Fiery Rebirth
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Mukuro has a bit of a secret. One that has ties to a past he'd very much like to forget. Too bad he doesn't have much of a choice. Past and present collide as Mukuro seeks to discover who he really is. Now the question remains if the magical enclaves will remain standing at the end of it.
1. Chapter 1

A pair of mismatched eyes stared at the scene before him. He was _not_ happy this jumped up ghost had taken possession of _his_ body and was using it as a puppet to attack _his_ Sky, as reluctant as he was to admit it.

That being said, he really didn't want to deal with explaining this particular ability. It was bad enough the Esterneo found out about it and abused it until he got pissed off enough to retaliate.

At least he wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of Ken and Chikusa's inept attempts in handling his vulnerable state. He hated having to wait a month before he could actually defend himself and they were barely competent.

Mukuro sighed in an annoyed manner.

" _Vongola, Chrome, I'm leaving you in charge of my body while I recover. And Birdy, if I hear even_ one _word about my weakened state I will end you in the most painful method possible,"_ said Mukuro crossly.

"Mukuro-sama, what are you going to do?" asked Chrome worriedly.

" _I'm going to show that pest why he shouldn't have picked_ my _body to act as his puppet. It's hard to explain without tipping him off anyway,"_ said Mukuro annoyed. He hated having to do this, but he wasn't going to leave everything in the hands of a boy who had been bullied extensively and was just barely coping with that fake baby's training.

He'd rather suffer a little indignity now and get it over with, than deal with the fallout if they _failed_.

Mukuro launched himself from Chrome's shoulder, and only left a trace of himself in the owl as his soul slammed into his body. Daemon Spade obviously though he was going to try and retake control...he had no idea what was about to happen.

It started as a low burn that swiftly turned into a conflagration of flames. Daemon started screaming in pain and shock as the fire ignored his powers and started to consume the body he was in.

The others watched in shock and horror as Mukuro's body _literally_ caught fire and began to self-immolate.

An odd sort of piercing cry filled the air, turning into the most beautiful music they had ever heard in their life. Great wings of brilliant orange and indigo sprang from Mukuro's back along with a long tail that flowed down to the ground.

The wings enveloped Mukuro's body as the song turned into a triumphant cry...and a blazing fireball consumed what was left of the Mist.

Stunned eyes as the flames consumed everything...and when it was over, only one sound filled the air.

The sound of a crying pair of children sitting there in the ashes of what had been Mukuro.

Chrome's maternal instincts kicked in, and she borrowed a pair of jackets long enough to wrap the infants inside. The one with mismatched eyes curled into her arms and slowly quieted down.

However it was a brief look at the child's eyes that said volumes of who the infant was.

Only Mukuro had such mismatched eyes, much less with kanji written in one.

The other one...looked like an almost identical copy save for the fact it had two normal eyes and looked very confused. Chrome managed to hand that one to Takeshi.

"What the hell just happened?" demanded Hayato.

"I think Mukuro just turned into a phoenix, or something close to it," said Reborn openly dumbfounded and in disbelief.

"A what?" said Tsuna. "And what happened to Daemon?"

"A phoenix. A middle eastern mythological firebird. When it dies, it's reborn from the ashes of it's previous body and it's tears are said to have healing powers while it's song can rouse the spirit of anyone who hears it. Capable of lifting heavy weights and instantly transporting large groups," said Reborn dumbly. "As for Daemon, that's anyone's guess, though I suspect the infant in Takeshi's arms might have an answer to that."

Mukurowl landed on Chrome's shoulder tiredly. It gave off a tired hoot.

"Mukuro-sama?"

The owl locked eyes with Chrome for five seconds, before returning back to it's standby form. She blinked repeatedly as she sorted through the information he had basically dumped into her head.

"Mukuro-sama said he'll be stuck like this for at least a month or possibly two, he won't remember anything until he reaches roughly the same age he 'died' at and will be as vulnerable as any other child. The reason he survived the labs was because of this power, but the Esterneo abused it until they pissed him off by planning to kill Ken and Chikusa because they had reached a dead-end with their 'research'," she said quietly. "He hates using it, so he kept it locked up along with his other primary because it was the reason the Esterneo experimented on him so much."

"This has happened before?" said Reborn.

Chrome shrugged helplessly, holding the infant close to her. The baby was sound asleep and she didn't want to wake it up.

"So basically you're telling us we're going to be dealing with a pair of babies for a month or two?" said Hayato.

"Can I hold him?" asked Tsuna curiously. Seeing the looks everyone shot him, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I like kids, and you might as well stay at our house until he's old enough to remember who he is. At the very least it'll be better for him than the hideout you've been using with Ken and Chikusa. If nothing else we can clean out the attic or something and convert it to another bedroom."

Ken and Chikusa...just looked openly relieved they wouldn't have to suffer taking care of an infant again. And were entirely unsurprised by the fact Mukuro had turned into a giant fireball.

* * *

Chrome and Tsuna got a crash course in changing an infant's diapers. Nana took it all in stride when Tsuna claimed that Chrome's "parents" had left her to care for her 'younger brothers' for a month or two while they were at work. Considering Mukuro and Chrome could have passed for brother and sister to begin with, it was an easy lie.

Did not stop Chrome from blushing up a storm, much less Tsuna. It was very little wonder Mukuro hated this particular ability when it offered so many blackmail opportunities. To say nothing of how vulnerable he was.

On an unrelated note, he was an adorable baby who liked practically everyone he met. Even if he did have a rather amusing habit of tossing small toys at Hibari every chance he got. Daemon was a little mischievous brat, but fortunately Tsuna had experience with Lambo.

Fortunately for Mukuro, Hibari knew that his favorite rival was a small animal at the moment and therefor not worth biting to death...even if he twitched the first time the infant managed to launch mashed peas at him.

Reborn...was having far too much amusement in gathering blackmail material on Tsuna's guardians, especially the Cloud and Mist.

However it didn't stop the teenagers all from observing the rather psychotic Mists...as small infants who couldn't harm a fly.

Mukuro was _not_ going to be happy with Haru. She insisted on putting him into many "cute" outfits because she was a sucker for small children.

Though she had to keep changing them, as Mukuro's body apparently had the ability to 'age' quite rapidly over the course of a few days.

"This is so weird... I mean mentally I _know_ this is Mukuro and the guy we tried to kill, but he isn't creepy in the least," said Hayato. He was playing with the toddler who was about the same size as Reborn at the moment.

"I know. At least he's old enough to sleep through the night and not wake us up," yawned Tsuna.

Chrome nodded, as she had been in charge of his infant form and thus was usually the first to wake up. Mukuro was a pretty easy-going infant, but that didn't mean she enjoyed waking up in the middle of the night to change diapers or feed him. Daemon on the other hand had a habit of squirming and being difficult.

"I sincerely hope you weren't mistaken, Reborn," said a voice.

Chrome and Tsuna turned to find...a tiny Hibari with a braid?

"I _know_ what accidental magic looks like. It's been a hassle hiding I-Pin and Lambo's incidents from the general public, but Mukuro is considerably stronger than they were," said Reborn flatly.

Seeing Tsuna and Chrome, Reborn paused before sighing in annoyance.

"Dame-Tsuna, this is Fon. He's here to check Mukuro and Daemon for something."

"Why does he look like Hibari?" asked Tsuna nervously.

"Because he's Hibari's grandfather," said Reborn bluntly. "Now where is he?"

Mukuro crawled to where Chrome was and lifted his arms, asking to be picked up. She did so absently, as she was used to it at this point. Mukuro was such a cuddly child and she would openly admit to enjoying the fact he liked to lay next to her at night.

Fon took out a paper talisman.

"Chrome was it? Could you have Mukuro hold this?" he asked.

Chrome picked up the talisman...and it gave off a fairly decent amount of light. Fon blinked.

"It would seem she has magic as well. I'm surprise they weren't picked up sooner."

"I was home schooled until recently," admitted Chrome.

"That would do it," said Fon.

Mukuro reached for the odd glowing paper.

If Chrome's light was roughly the same as a fairly bright lantern, Mukuro was a bonfire that nearly blinded them all. Though Daemon came close when it was his turn.

"Definitely magical, though considering you said he might have a phoenix form that amount makes perfect sense. It takes a lot more power to turn into a magical creature compared to a normal one, much less use their full abilities," said Fon, blinking to clear his vision. "They'll need to be registered and taught, otherwise it could get out of hand. We can also check with the banks to see if they're part of any established lines."

Chrome held Mukuro a little closer at that. She knew he hated needles.

Seeing her reaction, Fon smiled kindly.

"They just need a few drops of blood, nothing else. No needles required and the results take less than five minutes," he explained.

"How long will this take?" asked Reborn.

"A few hours at most. This generally doesn't take very long and once he's aged up he can join the same classes Kyouya finished long ago. This isn't the first time a magical child has been missed, and it won't be the last. At most they'll spend a few months studying until they take the required tests and then go about their lives," shrugged Fon.

* * *

 _A few hours later..._

Chrome was almost overwhelmed by the magical alley. Since they needed to get the registered, Fon lead them straight to the bank which was accorded neutral territory...and wouldn't report the fact they were "Soul Fire Active" to any Ministry. They didn't give a damn about that particular ability so long as they never caused trouble.

"What do you want, Cursed Human?" demanded the Oni.

"I wish to do a basic check for bloodline inheritance and to register two missed magical children," said Fon succinctly.

The Oni signaled one of it's younger brethren, who took them to a side room.

"Three drops of blood for inheritance test, which will cost you five gold for each test," said the fox inside.

Chrome took the knife and hesitantly cut her finger, leaving three fat drops of blood into the potion. Fon handed over five gold coins without batting an eye.

"Minor bloodline gifts, the line is too watered down to be anything more than a branch family," said the fox. "No vaults pending."

Fon deftly took a small needle and calmly pricked Mukuro's finger. Chrome promptly hugged him closer and tried to sooth the unhappy toddler she was holding.

Needless to say there was a lot of shock going around the room as the parchment practically _flowed_ with a history of bloodline gifts, vaults and family history.

"You have _got_ to be shitting me," swore Fon.

On one hand, this might explain how he survived that night. On the other hand, things were about to get _very_ complicated.

And that was before he tracked down how the hell _Harry Potter_ ended up in a mafia lab long enough to be experimented on and became Rokudo Mukuro.

The fox looked conflicted on how to handle this situation. Fortunately for him, Fon had a solution they could all live with until he found answers.

"I think it would be best to keep this quiet until _he_ is old enough to speak for himself. That should take a few more weeks, which is more than enough time to make preparations to clear up this mess."

The kitsune looked openly relieved at the out. He was not trained to handle this sort of situation and it gave them plenty of time to find someone who _was_.

A month really wasn't a long time to wait for a youkai, after all.

Surprisingly Daemon did have vaults under his own name, but it was more of a branch vault because he wasn't from the main line of the family.

 _Back in the Sawada household..._

"I take it the trip was uneventful?" asked Reborn, not really looking up from his book.

The dead silence made him put a bookmark in it and _look_ at Fon. He had a pained expression on his face.

"You and your student have officially stepped into a political mess of epic proportions," said Fon.

"...What happened?"

"What happened is that Mukuro is a missing figure of great importance to the magical enclaves that everyone has been looking for ever since he failed to show up at a certain exclusive boarding school four years ago. And because Tsuna is his bonded Sky, whatever happens to Mukuro will directly affect him," said Fon bluntly.

Though Fon was rather curious as to how Mukuro suddenly gained a twin brother of all things that had the same name as the treacherous Mist Guardian Daemon Spade. As far as he knew "Harry Potter" was an orphan with no other close living relatives, much less a twin.

Reborn looked at Fon seriously.

"How bad are we talking about?"

"Let me put it this way... the Cradle Affair would be considered a minor ripple compared to the sheer headaches you're about to deal with if word gets out that the missing 'savior' has been found. The closest equivalent I can think of would be if the Vongola had lost _all_ their heirs and Tsuna suddenly popped up out of the woodwork claiming to be the next Primo with the Vongola unaware of his existence, complete with Guardians that all looked like the first generation," said Fon dead serious.

Reborn openly winced at that.

"In the meantime I'm going to do a lot of digging to find out exactly how the savior of the English enclaves ended up in that lab. By all accounts he was hidden with his maternal aunt after his parents were murdered," said Fon.

Somehow he had the feeling he wasn't going to like finding out the truth.

"Any idea how exactly Daemon ended up as an infant as well?" asked Reborn.

"My best guess is that since Daemon was possessing Mukuro's body and had such a high affinity for his Flames, the magic mistook him as part of Mukuro. However two souls can't inhabit the same body, so magic shunted Daemon off into a new one of his own. You might as well consider them twin brothers, and there's a high chance that Daemon's life is now tied to Mukuro's," said Fon shrugging. "Magic is unpredictable at the best of times."

Tsuna had been very clear when the possibility of Daemon being the second infant was presented to him. Until the kid showed signs of the murderous Mist Guardian, he was to be treated the same as any other child.

No doubt the Primo was laughing his ass off at the predicament Daemon had found himself in because of his bad behavior inside the ring.

(Coincidentally he was, along with Alaude who couldn't stop smirking whenever the subject was brought up.)


	2. Chapter 2

Mukuro and Daemon swiftly passed the 'terrible twos' and were now roughly the same age as Lambo or I-Pin. It also made them far more...active, and the two could be often seen playing with the actual five year old with a harried Fuuta and Chrome keeping close eye on him.

Tsuna couldn't help but noticed a _major_ difference in Mukuro. Not only was he considerably less bloodthirsty, but he also had a rather amusing habit of crawling into the bed of either himself or Chrome after having one of his 'nightmares', which they suspected were really his memories considering the content.

It was making it really hard to equate the happy child that was in his arms to one of his most terrifying Guardians next to Hibari.

However right now he was staring at the odd books Fon had brought with him.

"What are these?"

"I am going to use the opportunity provided to get Mukuro, Chrome and Daemon caught up to speed on their magic. Since we have no idea whether or not Daemon will remember anything once he's aged up appropriately, we might as well try to correct some of his behavior. As for Mukuro... well, children have always learned things a lot faster than adults because their minds are open to new ideas."

Tsuna looked on with interest as Fon brought out some rather odd looking flashcards with various symbols on it.

"Rune Mastery has always been one of the requirements of our clan. It should be simple enough to give them a basic knowledge of them, and any child can learn how to use them."

Tsuna picked up one of the cards, one that had a minor wind-based rune on it. He absently traced it out of curiosity...so it was to everyone's surprise when a minor gust nearly blew the rest away, had Fon not been quick enough to grab them.

Fon blinked then looked at Tsuna. He took out the same talisman that he used on the trio of Mists.

While it wasn't the bonfire that Mukuro or Daemon had, it came pretty close. It was like looking at the hi-beams on a car at night.

Fon looked at Tsuna oddly.

Missing the three Mists was understandable considering their circumstances. However he failed to understand how _Tsuna_ had been missed. He should have been picked up when he started school, as most magical training began at age seven and was generally detected by the time they were in first grade.

Fon spotted Reborn.

"Call the other Guardians in here _now_. I want them all tested for magic. Twice is an understandable coincidence considering their past history, but something is going on for this many to be missed."

Reborn didn't question it, he started making the calls and within half an hour all of Tsuna's Guardians (plus Ken and Chikusa) were in the house. Chrome had Mukuro in her lap while Tsuna had Daemon.

"What's this about?" asked Hayato.

"I need to see exactly how many of you have magic, or whether we need to get you a special amulet to avoid the usual spells to deter those without it," said Fon. "Chrome and Mukuro are one thing, but for Tsuna to be missed means there might be something going on. I want to make sure we don't have any accidents."

Fon brought out a crystal ball, rather than the talisman. It was a more detailed way to check for magic, rather than the general exam.

Fon handed it to Tsuna first. It glowed rather brightly, indicating he had a fairly large magical core.

"Hand it over to the person next to you," instructed Fon.

Tsuna handed it to Hayato. There was a decent glow, but not as bright as Tsuna's.

"You have a fairly average sized magical core, but it's clearly untrained."

Hayato handed it over to Ryohei. There was nothing. Ryohei handed it over to Takeshi.

In Takeshi's hand's it produced a faint glow, almost like a candle about to blow out. He handed the orb to Ken, and the scarred boy produced roughly the same amount that Hayato had. Chikusa, when it was his turn, produced nothing.

"So we have two previously unidentified magicals, one dormant and two mundanes," said Fon.

"Dormant?" asked Tsuna curiously.

"In Europe they're called 'squibs'. It basically means Takeshi has magical blood in him, but it's not active. So far no one has successfully found a way to 'activate' magical blood in dormant lines with any real consistency. For future reference, avoid the magical alleys in the UK in particular, especially you and the two mundanes. The people in the English enclaves are notorious for being very close minded and barely tolerate 'squibs', and mundanes not at all. They still think electricity is a passing fad," said Fon.

"In the meantime, this means I have to loan you to Fon until he deems you competent in your magical training after school hours," said Reborn in annoyance. A thought occurred to him. "Is it possible Tsuna was missed because of the seal?"

"Seal?" repeated Fon.

"Nono sealed him when he was five after he went active during their visit. Iemitsu claimed he didn't want Tsuna dragged into the mafia...it's part of the reason why he's so clumsy."

"Wait, are you telling me it's _his_ fault I got stuck with a label like Dame-Tsuna? That having my brain feel like it's overheating and that lethargic feeling I always got trying to do anything too physical was because he had me _sealed_?" said Tsuna furious.

Reborn said nothing, but his evasive eyes said enough.

Fon frowned.

"We might as well take you all to a magical healer, just to be safe. There's no telling what sort of damage that seal might have done to your core, never mind how much your magic might have stagnated because you were all found so late," said Fon. "Fortunately the clan has several on retainer who can be trusted to keep quiet."

"Why is the Hibari clan being so helpful?" asked Reborn.

"Long story short, him," said Fon pointing at Mukuro. "Do you have any idea the sort of political power we could gain if it became public we not only found the missing English Savior, but have been instructing him in his magic since he had no idea what it was?"

"You're not going to use him, are you?" asked Tsuna worriedly.

"Heavens no. Considering his past history that could only backlash on us in short order. Far easier to make an alliance with him later that allows him access to our clan's resources in exchange for his public support once he's back to normal. At most it would be an exchange of favors between friends...or friendly rivals, considering how he acts around Kyouya," said Fon quickly.

That made Tsuna feel a little better about the matter. He just hoped Fon's method of teaching wasn't as...explosive...as Reborn's.

"I should warn you not to use your Flames in public. The enclaves have a rather strict policy of registering them and tend to put trackers on those that are found. The only reason the Vindice haven't gone after the ministries is because the odds of being 'soul fire active' and magical at the same time are fairly low, so we try to keep our cultures separate if possible," said Fon.

"Hence why you're calling in a trusted healer who can keep their mouth shut, rather than taking them to a magical hospital," said Reborn.

"Precisely. If you wish you can sit in on Tsuna's exam, as you are the closest thing to a responsible adult that actually cares about him," said Fon.

"What about his mother?" asked Reborn, only half serious.

"Do you really think a woman who had turned an oblivious eye to the bullying he's endured since the seal was placed as well as your own antics would be able to fully grasp the situation?" said Fon bluntly.

Reborn covered his eyes with his fedora.

Nana was a very accepting woman, but a responsible adult when it came to the welfare of the children in her care she was not. She might shower them with a bit of attention and make sure they were fed, clothed and had a roof over their heads, but she rarely paid any real notice to important things... such as the bullying issue Fon pointed out, or the fact Reborn often used live rounds on her son.

Better to keep her out of it. That Tsuna managed to survive this well adjusted was a miracle in itself.

* * *

Hibari didn't know _how_ he got roped into holding a six-year-old Mukuro, but he was determined to track down the blackmail photos he damn well knew had been taken. Daemon was once again in Tsuna's care (he liked the boy best, while Mukuro was generally partial to Chrome).

The clan healer that Fon called in was giving all the magical children a general exam, and if anything came up a more thorough one.

Chrome was promptly placed under a very strict regimen of potions to regrow her missing organs, and a suggestion that she follow up once that was done to see if they could if not fix her damaged eye, then replace it with an almost indistinguishable copy.

She was also told to do light magical training until the damage to her body was fixed up, as it could stress her organs before they were regrown.

Hayato, once the healer got over the appalling amount of poisoning done to him and a minor malnutrition issue, was also put on a potion regimen to fix his organs and preferably purge the lingering damage done by Bianchi's cooking. He was cleared for general magic use.

(He made a note to stock up on bezoars the second he found out what they did.)

Takeshi, while not having active magic, was given a list of things he _could_ do even if his core wasn't as active as the others. Just because his core wasn't as energetic as the others didn't mean he couldn't use something as basic as runes or pre-charged items like magic mirrors. Spells to deter mundanes would also be useless against him.

Mukuro and Daemon, surprisingly enough, were given a more or less clean bill of health. The healer also noted that they should reach their teen years by next week, which was a relief to everyone else.

Ken was given a basic potion regimen to counter his malnutrition and other issues caused by the experiments. He was also recommended to start learning transfiguration first, as it would possibly unlock a rare ability of a multi-animagus...even if he was restricted to the animals he had access to with his 'channels'. It was a rare gift, but one that could be of great use if cultivated properly.

However it was when the healer got to Tsuna that they almost went into an apoplectic fury.

"Who put this seal on his core?! It's a miracle he's even alive, much less functional!" hissed the healer. "It's going to take a lot of work and at least two rituals to undo the damage!"

Fon winced at that.

"I take it that's a bad thing?" asked Reborn.

"Let me put it this way...if Tsuna's core needs a ritual to fix the damage, considering soul fire is tied into his magic, then having that seal on him very nearly put him into Discord," said Fon.

Reborn winced as well.

"It's a miracle he can even access his magic... from this scan the boy very nearly became an Obscurial," said the healer grimly.

Fon eyes widened considerably in shock.

"What's an obscurial?" asked Reborn, wondering why Fon looked so horrified.

"To put it in simple terms, imagine if a child with active Mist came to fear their own ability to the point it warps and falls onto a very narrow line between normal flames and discorded ones. And that their ability begins to lash out at any perceived threats with open prejudice. Obscurials are a tragic example of why magical children should be cherished and _protected_ , not allowed to fall on the wayside. Most enclaves consider Obscurials to be 'creatures' rather than human, but they're so rare most have trouble identifying them."

Reborn looked horrified, and properly so. Daemon Spade had been bad enough... he couldn't imagine the sheer damage Tsuna could have cause if his Sky flames went out of control because he was afraid of them and went into discord.

With the seal forcibly containing his flames and the general situation Tsuna had to deal with, it was no wonder things had gotten this bad.

"What do we need to do to fix it?" asked Reborn seriously.

"That depends on one thing," asked the healer.

"What?"

"I want whoever put that seal on this poor boy brought up on charges. No magical child should endure what that _thing_ did to him...it very nearly destroyed his body and soul! What sort of idiot uses such an archaic and half-assed seal anyway?" demanded the healer irate.

"...I can't get you the one who applied the seal in question, but the one who ordered it placed is doable," said Reborn.

"Well the damage is reversible, but however it seems his soul fire has heavily influenced his core. You might become decent at potions, but according to this scan there is a possibility you could have Seer's blood in you as well. You might want to check and see if he has an affinity for it," said the healer. "Also once the core is fixed you should keep an eye out for overpowering your spells. Control is going to be finicky from what I can tell."

"What sort of ritual equipment are we going to need?" asked Fon seriously.

The healer handed him a list.

Fon winced...he could tell from the ingredients alone that the price was going to be massive. There was no way the Hibari clan could field even half of this without taking a hit.

"Bad?"

"To put it in simple terms, if Viper knew how much all of this was going to cost they would spit up blood and their ghost would hover around their body weeping," said Fon.

"Bad."

"But since the Vongola _did_ cause the damage in the first place, I do believe it's time that Iemitsu actually _paid_ for his own actions."

Reborn's smirk was not for the faint of heart.

"And I'm sure Mammon would be more than delighted to take a hefty cut for helping us acquire whatever we need," said Reborn.

They were basically giving the Mist a reason to hit Iemitsu's private accounts for the pain and suffering he caused his son. If those accounts just so happened to be drained dry by the Mist, well, Reborn and Fon weren't going to say a thing about it.

"So what are these rituals going to do anyway?" asked Tsuna.

"They're basically going to 'reset' your core and your flames. Which is why we need two of them... while soul fire and magic are very similar and can become interconnected, they are still two very different things. With the damage being done to both, we need at least two rituals to fix it," the healer informed him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Kufufufu...well I can say that at least this time I didn't have to deal with the inept handling of my minions," said Mukuro. He had finally managed to regain his age that morning, though Daemon still hadn't remembered who he was.

From what they could tell, his personal memories had been more or less locked, while his knowledge of how to use his Flames remained. He was basically a clean slate at the moment.

"You do realize Reborn and the others got a lot of blackmail material on you, right?" said Tsuna tiredly.

"I would expect nothing less. Did I at least hit the little birdy a few times?" asked Mukuro hopefully.

"You nailed him repeatedly with the infant food."

"Then as long as they share copies of my attacks on him, I can live with it. Why are you so tired?" asked Mukuro curiously.

"Reset of my flames," yawned Tsuna. "I need a week before I recover and we still have to pay to do the second one. Too bad that jerk found out about the fact we were draining his accounts so quickly, or he could have paid for what he did."

Iemitsu had cut Viper off before they could pay for the second ritual to reset Tsuna's magical core. As such Reborn was trying to find a way to explain to Timoteo (who was a mundane and not cleared to know about magic) why they needed the resources of several obscure and rare herbs to fix Tsuna.

"Oh good, you're aware of yourself again. We need to make a visit to the bank to settle your accounts, among other things," said Fon.

"Accounts?" said Mukuro baffled.

"You're the heir and potential head of two ancient and noble families in Europe. You have quite a bit of money waiting for you to inherit, as well as properties and businesses," said Fon. "Though if you want to avoid being dragged in by a bunch of mindless sheep into solving their problems, we'll have to do this carefully."

What Mukuro found was beyond any expectations.

He was not only rich, but the heir of two lines. He only had to complete the secondary exams in order to become the full head. It was somewhat shocking to come to the realization he wouldn't need to possess Tsuna to gain influence on the underworld.

Fon was quiet through most of it. It wasn't his business after all.

However once they were in a room where they could talk freely without interruption, Mukuro got down to business with the Storm Arcobaleno.

"I know you seek an alliance with your clan and this 'fame' I have acquired in Europe. I would not be adverse to the idea, however I do want one thing."

"What is that?"

"I want to know why I ended up in those labs, if I'm an heir to two families."

Fon took a sip of his tea.

"The short answer is that you were sold to the Esterneo by your last remaining close blood relative on your mother's side. Her husband simply made the delivery... from what I can tell you were about three at the time. However the long answer is somewhat complicated."

"Then simplify it."

"Over a decade ago a wizard by the name of 'Voldemort' came into power and challenged the 'leader of the light' Albus Dumbledore. He created a reign of terror that lasted almost twenty years before he was defeated without any warning by an infant not even two at the time. Since that night you have been hailed a 'hero' and there are many fictional stories of your upbringing... you can sue the publishers for a cut of the profit if you wish, but I would wait until you have claimed the full titles so that the 'adults' will not be able to touch you as easily," said Fon. "You were left at your maternal aunt's house by Dumbledore and two others, against the wishes of your parents, particularly your mother. They only took note that you were missing when you failed to show up four years ago at the school, and have been searching for you since."

All true, without going into the nitty-gritty details.

"The woman who sold me?"

"Still living in the same house she has for over ten years with her husband and son. If you wish to ruin them for what they did, I would be more than happy to share several contacts to make their destruction slow and excruciatingly painful on multiple fronts," said Fon promptly.

Mukuro's smirk was not pleasant in the least, but then again he wasn't a nice person when someone had wronged him the way his own blood had.

"As for your training... our clan would be more than happy to recommend several professional tutors that will not only get you and the others up to speed, but also remain silent on your birth name if it pops up."

"All in exchange for an alliance, I assume?"

"Consider it an exchange of favors. A mutual agreement to assist one another and share contacts or provisions," said Fon evenly. "You get the training you need along with assistance in keeping the English sheep from butting their noses into your business, and we get a bit of notoriety for finding and helping to train you as well as several potential business deals that will increase our own gold long term. We will have no access to your inheritance, but we would get a percentage of any...investments... you happen to make in our clan businesses. Your fame holds a lot of weight in magical Europe."

"What about the others?"

"Ken and Chikusa would be considered your 'vassals', while Chrome is a bit of a toss up," said Fon promptly. "She could either become your adopted sister or your betrothed, depending on how you want to handle that. Since your flames are such a natural match, I would suggest the betrothal route. Not only would it protect her, as a 'new blood' which are looked down upon in most of Europe, but it would also cut off any attempts to forcibly marry into your family and obtain your vaults."

"I'm rather surprised that your clan would go so far," said Mukuro, his smile not reaching his eyes.

Fon's smile was almost as 'nice'.

"Despite what you might think, the bulk of the Hibari clan are actually merchants. Who better to find rare and valuable things than warriors? While the Japanese branch might focus on maintaining order, the Chinese and Korean branches are more in line with merchants and training martial arts to outsiders, with the strongest techniques kept 'in-house', so to speak."

Mukuro smirked.

"So if I were to just so happen to offer up partnerships in several businesses I own but have no real use for at the moment..."

Fon's smirk was sharp.

"Then we could be considered allies and we would be more than happy to help you ruin anyone who gets on your bad side...as well as run interference from the English," said Fon pleasantly.

It wouldn't even be a hardship for them to do so, as they already had a bad opinion of Dumbledore to begin with.

For Mukuro it was a no brainer. He would have to go through his portfolio anyway, so why not use some of the things in it to earn a powerful ally?

Though a thought occurred to him.

"This doesn't mean I have to stop fighting the little birdie, does it?" asked Mukuro suspiciously.

Fon's unusually sneaky demeanor changed into mischievous.

"Having a rival is good for Kyouya. I have no objections to you two 'playing' with each other so long as you only maim him," said Fon.

"Then you can consider us allies, once I get things straightened out."

Fon looked openly pleased at that. He couldn't wait for the chaos to begin...though as soon as _that_ thought hit him he realized that he had been spending too much time around Reborn.

* * *

Paperwork, Mukuro concludes, is the devil. Tsuna is clearly in agreement upon seeing how much work his Mist has to go through to clear up the mess that his is accounts.

Of the two rings he had gotten from the bank, the "Black" heir ring had accepted him very quickly. It was the "Potter" that was giving him trouble.

For obvious reasons Mukuro kept the Black ring next to his Mist ring while the Potter one was around his neck much the same way Tsuna wore his Vongola Sky ring.

The _second_ he found the multiple marriage contracts in one of the folders, Mukuro called Fon over.

"You've proven without a shadow of doubt that Chrome isn't related to me in the least, correct?" he asked seriously, eyebrows twitching.

"Not even remotely. Daemon Spade, on the other hand, is related to you through your mother, ironically enough."

Mukuro growled, but said nothing. He still hadn't forgiven Daemon for stealing his body, even if the other Mist was an amnesiac at the moment. He had adjusted quickly into Tsuna's class where everyone was keeping a firm eye on him in case he remembered who he was.

From what he could tell, control of the memories in question had been given to Mukuro. Sure, Daemon might get bits and pieces back, but the bulk of it remained with the younger Mist.

Mukuro looked at the marriage contracts with distaste. Each one had come with a family history and spelled out in detail whether or not the Potter or the Blacks were related to the girl in question.

More often than not, he kept finding multiple ancestors in common. Incest was _not_ his kink and he refused to marry a cousin.

Besides, this meant he could stake his claim on Chrome in a more permanent way. He did _not_ like the feelings it had evoked when Daemon tried to claim her for himself, and he was pleased when she made it clear she had no interest in him.

Chrome was his and he would kill anyone who tried to take her from him twice. The same way he'd happily gut anyone who tried to harm Ken or Chikusa just to get to him.

"If you like I can help you draft a betrothal contract with your girlfriend," said Fon cheekily. Ah, young love... even if Mukuro didn't have the foggiest idea what love was, and Chrome was very dependent on his approval.

Chrome, who had walked in on the word 'girlfriend' blushed red as a tomato. It didn't help that Mukuro wrapped his arms around her waist and said "Mine" possessively.

Fon went over to Chrome and asked "How is your eye? Replacing such delicate organs is a bit tricky, but the one you had was too badly damaged."

"It's alright. It's strange getting used to seeing with both of them again, and I keep getting headaches."

Fon patted her hand in sympathy.

"Once you get used to the replacement, you can enchant it anyway you wish. I know of one magical cop who can see through walls and certain spells with his."

Chrome's right eye was too badly damaged to be fixed, so she had opted to get it replaced. However regrowing her eye was too expensive and there was no telling if she might have a bad reaction to the other potions regrowing her organs, so what she had now was closer to a 'glass' eye, except made of precious stone instead. At the moment it had generic spells to allow the optic nerve to connect with the ball, thus giving her back her sight, but once she got used to it she could enchant it in all sorts of ways.

And because the eye was created with a special stone that reacted well to Flames, she could conceivably use it to cast her illusions if she was ever disarmed of her ring and her trident. No one would ever suspect someone's _eye_ to be the source, and most would assume it was some sort of magical bloodline kicking in.

Right now she was just trying to get used to seeing with both eyes...and not walking into things.

"On an unrelated note I have you and the others scheduled to use a special time-dilation room to catch up on your magical studies. Normally we'd just give you a tutor and leave it at that, but I don't want to hear Reborn's sniping about the fact I'm borrowing his student for too long."

"What's time-dilation?" asked Tsuna curious.

"It means time can go either faster or slower, depending on how the room itself is set. In this case it's going to go slower and we're basically dumping you all in a room and leaving you there for a week until you're considered competent enough to sit the primary exams. Once you pass those, depending on how things go you might be given a magical tutor to insure you're able to sit the secondary ones as well, if you wish. Though if Mukuro wishes to gain his full inheritance he will have to sit through at least five of the secondary exams and pass."

Tsuna didn't have high hopes of getting good grades. He was barely passing his normal classes as it was.

The room was somewhat big and had side areas where they could sleep, separate baths with a shared shower, a full kitchen and a place where they could be "outside" without actually leaving the zone that allowed time to move differently.

It was very impressive and must have cost a fortune.

"How much did this cost?" asked Tsuna worriedly.

Fon smiled at him reassuringly.

"It's a permanent installation, it's just spelled to add rooms depending on the need and who reserved it. It's just a hassle getting the reservation because of the time and power required, as those who can set it up might have conflicting schedules. Fortunately several were available and they are being paid very well to do this."

Tsuna didn't look reassured by that.

"You don't have to worry about paying for it," said Fon. "This is mostly to insure Kyouya's Sky is well trained and to continue the good impression Mukuro has of us."

"I can't believe people are going to all this trouble because of us."

"Well it's more because of Mukuro. We weren't expecting him to almost literally be dropped in our laps like this. He's very well connected in the magical enclaves, particularly Europe. And that's before one adds his fame into account. Don't worry, they'll go over that mess when they get to the history portion."

Tsuna's attention however was focused on one of the teachers, who bore a terrifying resemblance to a female Hibari. Fon grinned at him.

"That's Tsubasa, Kyouya's aunt on his father's side. Don't worry, out of the family only a select handful would bite like Kyouya does and he's the only one in the city."

That almost sounded reassuring.


	4. Chapter 4

Tsuna's brain felt like mush, but that was understandable considering he not only had four years of magical education basically shoved down his brain, but a rather large amount of normal things too.

The teachers had been appalled and affronted when they did a basic test to check their education level and he came out below average.

Upon a brief talk with Tsuna, they found that he had never received any help with his homework and was always put down as 'cheating' whenever he did good on a test. As a result he simply quit trying and had been on the verge of dropping out entirely when Reborn showed up and _made_ him do better or else.

Which meant he had to spend an entire week playing catch up with his normal education because the teachers who had him failed so spectacularly at their jobs.

Tsuna wouldn't know this until he got out of the special lessons, but a good portion of his teachers, both old and current, were given a reprimand for not doing their job correctly and overlooking several instances of bullying. Apparently they had come to rely on Hibari to keep the worst of it down and ignored the rest unless a parent brought it up or an investigation was done. Some were fired and a black mark put on their teaching record because they were ill-qualified or hadn't kept up with their own subjects.

It was even worse when they did a basic psyche evaluation.

Years of bullying and zero support (his own mother had made it clear she had long since stopped caring) from those around him had left Tsuna's self-esteem in the dirt. While Reborn was actually helping in that regard, he was also doing minor bits of damage and it was a miracle Tsuna was so well adjusted.

At the very least, leaving Namimori would do wonders for him.

Which was why they were heavily suggesting a discreet relocation to someplace secure for at least a year and a lot of confidence building exercises. Maybe a hobby or two, with a therapy animal.

Mukuro, being the devious bastard that he was, had a rather interesting solution.

By the laws of the English ministry, he had to present himself for at least one of the exams for his full inheritance. However nothing said he had to go there alone, and if they really needed to relocate Tsuna for a bit to build his confidence back up (and prevent him from becoming little more than a puppet in the hands of the Ninth generation, which no one wanted) then why not have those with magic head to Hogwarts for a year to take the secondary exams?

So long as no one found out who Mukuro was, they could slip in and out unnoticed.

There was one benefit from this mess. Tsuna found himself a few new hobbies.

"I thought you said you weren't a ninja," said Reborn amused.

Fon was teaching Tsuna how to use traditional shinobi weaponry on top of martial arts. When he found out that the boy had been half-assing it this whole time, he decided to correct that. Especially since Tsuna specialized in hand to hand combat.

Tsuna was just happy to have an excuse to train without having to do any more homework.

Fon's eyes were dark and mischievous. There was a fox-like smile on his face.

"I never said I wasn't a ninja, just that I wasn't descended from one. You would be amazed at the amount of old scrolls still around from the old days," said Fon evenly. "The Hibari clan are descended from both the Kouga and the Iga... they have no problems with sharing the scrolls with family members who would appreciate them, even if they are merely copies."

Fon watched as Tsubasa absently corrected Tsuna's form with expert ease.

The old ways had never been truly lost, not in Japan, and Tsuna had a surprising aptitude for the shinobi arts. Considering they were his birthright by way of his grandfather Ieyasu, who married a Kouga maiden seeking shelter from the Iga without knowing anything about the dynamic between clans, it was only proper that he be taught.

Asari must have been very amused, being from a samurai clan, when he found out exactly _who_ Giotto married.

"Look at the bright side Reborn... who better to notice flaws in defenses than someone trained to exploit them? Better he learn how to protect himself now than when he becomes Decimo."

"You do realize that Skull will be absolutely justified in calling you a ninja, right?"

Fon snorted.

"Ninja are Japanese. I am an assassin. Please get it right," he scoffed.

"...So, what do you think about this whole idea of sending these children into that school?" asked Reborn.

He might be a 'mundane' but it wasn't _that_ hard to stay on top of the magical enclaves.

"In all honesty, with who Mukuro is and the fact he's the acting Mist Guardian of the Decimo Vongola, if you don't get on top of those idiots now it's going to bite you in the ass sooner rather than later," said Fon bluntly.

Reborn looked at him.

"I'm serious. Those idiots are nothing but sheep and they'll assume they have a right to him simply because he saved their ungrateful asses when he wasn't even two, never mind the fact he's from two old bloodlines that are almost dead. They'll expect him to 'save' them again if things go to hell, or try to manipulate him into acting as a puppet for whoever has the most power," said Fon. "Imagine someone taking Tsuna and turning him into a puppet where they can tug the Vongola's strings from the shadows without anyone realizing it, all while idolizing him and putting him in an invisible cage."

Reborn openly winced at that. That sounded like one of his worst nightmares.

"If we're lucky no one will figure out Mukuro is their missing 'savior' and they'll be able to get in and out once he's claimed his inheritance. If we're _extremely_ lucky none of them will find out Tsuna is a Sky."

Reborn looked at him.

"It's not well known, but the conflict before that resulted in Mukuro becoming an orphan was actually a territory dispute between two latent Skies. If those fools are so willing to follow an inactive Sky blindly like that, how do you think they'll react to an _Active_ one?" said Fon.

"That...could be very bad," said Reborn shuddering.

He had read the newspaper articles from that time and it didn't take a genius to figure out that if the two latent Skies figured out what Tsuna was, they would target him without hesitation.

At the very least they would attempt to draw him into their pissing contest, which he could not allow.

"That being said if they can pass the primary exams here then they will have no difficulty passing the secondaries in England. Their standards are so lax it's a complete joke," said Fon.

"How so?"

"Well for one thing you can bribe your way into a better grade with enough gold or social standing, and their school only has a limited amount of electives. They also have Divination, when that's supposed to be limited to a Master-Apprentice relationship since only those with the actual gift can get anything out of it. Scrying is far more broad and useful. And Runes should be a _mandatory_ course, rather than a limited Elective. And don't get me started on how much their History and Potion scores have gone downhill."

"You really don't like that place, do you?"

"It's something of a sore subject with me. I can't stand the fact that the education in England has degraded so far because they elected Dumbledore as headmaster instead of someone competent, never mind how corrupt their ministry is. It used to be a premiere school and now it's almost worthless," said Fon tiredly.

"Which is why once Mukuro passes those exams I'm throwing them all into actual magical training so they can pass the real ones," said Reborn.

Fon smiled at him. It was so nice to have good friends who cared about real education and not half-assing it.

"So how are we going to send the kids to school?"

"Easy. We enroll them as temporary transfers only there to take their secondary exams since one of them has an inheritance in England. Of course since it's literally been centuries since a transfer has been seen they'll cause a minor stir, but that should smooth over easily enough. Fortunately the tournament should be over by then."

From what Fon could tell, based on the timing of Mukuro's forced burning day, around the time that the Goblet of Fire was picking out champions his magical signature shifted slightly to include Daemon Spade, thus altering it enough that the fourth paper burned up before it could be read. It wouldn't surprise him in the least if the English tried that as a last ditch effort to drag their missing Savior out of hiding.

"So...therapy animal?"

"We'll take the kids to the magical district and let them pick out familiars. How much you want to bet Mukuro ends up with some sort of owl?"

"No bet. He shares his box weapon with Chrome after all, though I would bet you anything Chrome, Tsuna and Hayato all walk away with cats," said Reborn.

Reborn and the other teacher gave the kids a day of rest once they were out of the room, before throwing them headfirst into the primary magical exams. By this point they were all well used to their chosen focus that they could reasonably cast any spells required.

Tsuna had proven a surprising aptitude for 'wandless' magic. He found it easier to channel his power through his gloves, which gave him a bit more control.

Mukuro, Chrome and Daemon all preferred 'staff-casting', but could just as easily channel their magic through their tridents and scythe respectively.

Hayato was best at wand magic, while Takeshi had gotten the hang of blood runes. If need be, he could claim that he was restricted from casting magic normally and was only allowed to use enchanted blades or runes according to his family's magical arts. Considering most wizards wouldn't know anything about soul fire, and Shigure Kintoki was an enchanted blade, it was doubtful they'd realize the deceit due to Takeshi actually being a squib.

After all, Hogwarts already employed a squib on their payroll as 'caretaker'.

Fon almost couldn't wait for the chaos to begin, which was a sure sign he had spent far, far too much time around Reborn of late.

* * *

Reborn took one look at Tsuna's new "therapy pet" and stated flatly "Your cat looks like someone slammed a frying pan in it's face."

Tsuna scratched the somewhat flat-faced feline on the ear, causing it to purr.

"Don't be mean to Crookshanks. It's not his fault that no one at the shop wanted him for so long," said Tsuna.

Crookshanks was among a special import of animals from England, as the pet shop in Diagon needed to get rid of some of it's inventory...and the older pets. The poor half-kneazle had been in the shop so long that the owner was glad to be rid of him.

Mukuro had been adopted by a rather regal looking female snow owl that he named Shirayuki. It had an unusual amount of intelligence in it's eyes and had practically forced him to buy her, much to the amusement of everyone. She got along with Mukurowl, which was all he particularly cared about.

Chrome was currently cooing over the kittens she had found, and eventually settled on a particularly adorable nekomata with a crescent moon shaped mark around it's right eye in white fur. It had a rather shiny black coat, with white 'mittens' on it's paws.

Hayato promptly got into a fight with a kitten that could have been Uri's twin... though on closer inspection it was revealed that Uri had simply come out and decided to keep Hayato from getting a pet. Since it could hide it's Flames from public view, it was decided Hayato could claim Uri as his 'pet cat' and drop the matter.

It wasn't until they were about to leave that they all saw a sight that had them stop and stare.

Hibari, with a small white monkey on his shoulder. Reborn promptly took multiple pictures and sent a text to Fon, before smirking as his bank account swelled. He could already sense Fon's delight once he saw the photos.

"Where did you find a snow monkey?" asked Reborn baffled.

Hibari looked to his shoulder.

"His name is Mite. I bit an herbivore to death for keeping him in an unsanitary cage that was too small for his breed," he said flatly.

Considering Kyouya's reputation, even in the Japanese enclaves, no one was overly shocked when none of the cops showed up to arrest him for violence. His love of animals was well known after all.

Needless to say they were all treated to the rather interesting sight of Hibari trying to kill Fon when he cooed upon seeing Mite on Kyouya's shoulder...while Lichi was on his head.

Fon took it as a sign that Kyouya was eventually coming around to the knowledge they were related. Kyouya just wanted to bite the annoying smiling carnivore to death for trying to bring him down to the level of an herbivore.

So...pretty much business as usual with them.


	5. Chapter 5

In a surprising turn of events, the one that prepared them the best for what they were about to face in England was Daemon. While he didn't have most of his memories, he did remember what being a noble was like. Mukuro had taken to borrowing his personal memories from when the Primo's generation were still around to deal with that headache, while Daemon coached Tsuna, Chrome, and Ken in how to 'behave' in polite society. While some of it was outdated, it would still come in handy when Tsuna took control of the Vongola.

Aside from making a few minor corrections, Reborn left the bulk of that training to the Mist. Hayato didn't really need it as he had been born into that particular crowd, and still had the ingrained training. It didn't hurt that Daemon was able to implant knowledge of Italian (which Tsuna and Chrome practiced every night with Hayato and Mukuro) and basic English so that they wouldn't have to rely on translation charms. Such things could cause a major misunderstanding from a poorly translated word.

Tsuna's brain once again felt like mush, but at least Daemon wasn't using him for target practice.

He practically wept when he saw Dino.

"Dino-nii, thank kami-sama! Save us!"

Dino blinked. Twice.

"Save you from what?"

"Vongola needs a break from having etiquette and new languages crammed into his head," clarified Mukuro.

"I keep telling you to call me Tsuna," said Tsuna exasperated. "You would think after changing your diapers you would drop the Vongola bit."

Tsuna promptly dodged a trident attack.

"And I would think you would have enough sense not to make comments like that in public. Do you really want me to alert Daemon and Reborn that you're attempting to ditch?"

Tsuna paled.

Dino snickered at the by-play. Despite Mukuro's brief annoyance it was clear he was becoming a bit more fond of his Sky. Having a good bond between Elements and their Sky was necessary for a proper harmony.

So he was somewhat surprised when Mukuro briefly paused and told him in a low voice "I think you need to explain to Tsuna exactly what Harmony between a Sky and their Elements _is_. From what I can tell most of his Guardians were tossed in his direction and he was told they were bonded."

Dino might have dismissed the comment...except he had noticed a strange dissonance with the previous heirs. Out of the four other heirs, only Xanxus had shown any signs of a proper Guardian bond.

Enrico, Massimo and Federico all had what he considered 'political Elements', since they didn't have that innate sixth sense of what the other was doing.

Was it possible Tsuna had no idea what Harmony was?

Dino resolved to find out exactly how much Reborn had taught him, and exactly what was going on.

 _A few hours later..._

Mukuro found himself with Dino again, this time the older male looking quite serious.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"If you mean how did I know about Reborn's half-assed idea of training, it was there for anyone with eyes to see. He's supposed to lead a _mafia_ famiglia and yet he had no idea how to read or even speak Italian during the Ring Battles. Reborn was with him for over a year and he was woefully unprepared to deal with me. It seems Reborn decided to treat this more like a vacation than a real job, considering he must have guessed his own time was swiftly running out. Besides, just because I couldn't remember anything after that forced rebirth doesn't mean I forgot all they did while I was catching up with myself," said Mukuro. "If anything leaving this place and having some time away from the caustic environment will be good for Tsuna."

"Why do you still call him Vongola though?"

Mukuro's smile was sneaky.

"Someone has to keep him on his toes to remind him that he has to keep his guard up at all times. That brat managed to reach me, even when I had thought I had lost all humanity I had left save for the scraps of empathy I had for Ken and Chikusa. Like hell am I going to let what happened in that alternate future happen here."

Mukuro had gotten quite the info dump from that little incident and he did _not_ like the way Tsuna had changed in that future. It was clear to him that the Vongola wanted a puppet, not a proper boss.

If it meant spoiling the plans of old men who should have handed over power decades ago, then Mukuro had no issues with being the mysterious driving force to Tsuna growing up a bit and actually getting a backbone.

* * *

Getting in as transfers for the next school year was easy. Dealing with the red tape that would allow them to leave without repercussions should things turn south, that was a bitch and a half.

It all boiled down to Fon saying "To hell with this" and contacting the Japanese and Italian magical governments directly and getting Tsuna and Mukuro's groups and giving practically everyone going "diplomatic immunity".

To be more specific, Tsuna, Chrome, Hibari and Takeshi were given diplomatic credentials via the Japanese ministry because they had been born there and they were bonded though Tsuna. Which meant anything they did reflected upon their "lord" much like a samurai's actions would reflect upon their shogun, daimyo or whatever "master" they claimed as their leader.

Meanwhile Mukuro, Hayato, Ken and Daemon were all given credentials through the Italians, as three of them were born there and the former had spent most of his life there and had no memories of his limited time in England.

Oddly enough, only Tsuna and Mukuro held immunity from both Italy and Japan, and that was because they were both Skies...though Mukuro's primary was firmly Mist and he had more or less figured out how to 'seal' his Sky away to keep the criminal sect from annoying him about it. Neither country was willing to hand over such a rare Flame type to the other, so they agreed to share.

Mostly. Depending on what the situation was it would be easier to claim one country over the other in order to avoid the political backstabbing.

Ken and Chikusa were beyond thrilled when they found out they were considered Mukuro's "vassals" by magical standards because they had bonded to him as his secondary Sun and Rain. He had yet to find his "primary" Guardians, as Fon had explained it to him, but at least he knew no one would take his minions from him.

It was still weird sharing Chrome with Tsuna.

At least he wouldn't have to deal with the foolish females of England getting _ideas._ With the betrothal contract (something that still made Chrome squeak with embarrassment whenever someone brought it up), it was quite impossible for them to somehow try to magically bind themselves to his line, even if they did find out who he was.

So long as he thought of himself as "Rokudo Mukuro", the contract would hold.

As for Reborn, Fon was using a legal loophole when it came to the fact that the English didn't really bother with classifying "soul fire", which was what they called Dying Will Flames.

Reborn had laughed his ass off when Fon brought him a copy of the books they had available on the subject in question, as they were all highly inaccurate and downright ridiculous. Then again most people who went Active were usually picked up by the English mafia or got out of dodge because they were given warnings by the Vindice, so it was only natural they had limited information on the subject.

In the eyes of the English ministry, Reborn was classified as a "hedgewizard" at the very best, because they had tested his ability to see past magical wards. He would be unaffected by the bulk of the warding around the castle, and the fact he was a Sun meant he could use his Flames to 'activate' a few runes to keep the English off his case. Since he was registered as Tsuna's personal home tutor, there were allowances for him to join the kids at the school, if only to continue his contract with the Vongola.

Which would really translate to Reborn keeping them all on task when it came to their "real" education, as Hogwarts didn't have a normal curriculum in the least and their magical one was highly out of date in several areas.

The only really tricky part was when they had to have forms filled out that would allow them to visit a nearby tourist village by the name of Hogsmeade.

Reborn signed for Tsuna and Chrome, while Fon signed for Kyouya, Mukuro, Daemon and Ken...since Mukuro held an alliance with his clan (and Fon was his 'de facto' magical guardian, and therefor the 'guardian' of Ken and Daemon since they fell under Mukuro's Sky). Bianchi signed for Hayato (being his older sister and his legal guardian), while Tsuyoshi signed for his son.

There was some debate on whether to bring Fuuta as well, since he just barely skirted the required age for a first year. They decided against it, as Fuuta would rather learn with I-Pin and Lambo. That, and their class schedules would make it extremely difficult to keep an eye out for him.

The remaining two months were spent going over the current political situation in England...mainly the dynamics of the "ruling" families and who not to piss off unless the other side pushed them too far.

At the top of _that_ particular list was the Malfoy, Parkinson and Nott families. However there was a special note about the Zabini, as it was unclear whether or not the current heir was Active or not, and if he kept up with the latest news of the mafia.

While there wasn't any actual rules forcing those with Active flames to join the underworld, even if they came from a magical background, it was _heavily_ encouraged by the Vindice because they didn't want to deal with the magical enclaves getting ideas above their station.

The only reason they were getting away with this was because the teens were only "visiting" so to speak and had no intention of sticking around once the year was up.

That being said, Tsuna was probably the most eager to leave Namimori, even if they were dropping into a complete and utter mess.

It probably said something that he hadn't hesitated to jump on the offer to continue his 'ninja training' as Reborn had put it, when offered by Hibari's aunt.

He had finally found something he was good at, mostly because shinobi were supposed to be silent killers that specialized in ambushing people with traps, not full out frontal assaults like most of his Guardians specialized in.

That, and it turned out his cat Crookshanks had a mean vicious streak when provoked and was more than happy to maim anyone that annoyed him too much to the point he was classified as a 'nin-animal' the first time he mauled some poor bastard that stepped on his tail.

Tsuna was so tempted to rename his cat Tora after the demon cat from _Naruto_ when that happened...

* * *

 _Some time later..._

Fon was rather pleased with his new temporary student. Tsuna, once you got over the wall that was his lack of confidence due to _years_ of intense bullying and no support, was a very hard worker who would jump through hoops for a bit of honest praise and a simple pat on the head.

Which honestly made Fon wonder what the hell Reborn had been doing if he hadn't picked up on this fact, or why he hadn't exploited it to make his job easier.

Once you broke down basic homework, even the magical kind for him, Tsuna tended to pick things up very quickly.

Fon's 'patient' approach was doing more for Tsuna's grades than Reborn's chaotic personality, though it did have it's own benefits. Reborn was at least able to acclimate the boy to chaos and violence very quickly, even if Tsuna was extremely reluctant to dole it out.

Fon turned Tsuna's rough brawler style into something far more deadly...even if Tsuna was still overcoming his instinctive need to flinch whenever Kyouya showed up to act as his sparring partner.

Just because Fon's approach was a bit kinder didn't mean he was going to hold back when it came to learning how to fight properly. If he could last ten minutes against Kyouya, then he could last hours against someone else. Once Tsuna passed the thirty minute mark without being left knocked out, Fon would up the ante by making the boy face _him_ in a fight.

The reasoning being if Tsuna could survive Fon _and_ Kyouya on the same day, then he'd survive damn near anyone.

Reborn used that time to train Takeshi and Hayato, since the Takeshi was a natural born hit man and Hayato could use more experience with weapons that wouldn't potentially blow up in his face.

Ryohei and Chikusa, being the only ones left out in the lurch because they had no magical blood in them, were promptly sent for training with Colonello and oddly enough, Skull. Colonello rather liked Ryohei and was eager to put him through military training for the year, while Chikusa had proven adept at machine maintenance and would thus learn the ins and outs of how to maintain bikes and cars from the Cloud. The fact Skull was rather eager to have a student of his own after being asked by Fon was just a bonus.

All too quickly the deadline for them to head to England for a year approached.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was a tired, frayed old man who had made a lot of mistakes in his life.

The biggest all seemed to happen roughly within the past few decades or so.

It had started with Tom and how badly he had mishandled the boy. He should have known from the interview that the child had so much darkness in his heart.

Alas how far the boy would go in his depravity was not something even he could have guessed at. The fact he drew in others with similar dispositions made it worse, as the death toll began to rise and he mourned the loss of life.

Then a miracle happened and it all stopped. Of course he naturally though young Lily's sister wouldn't nearly be as bad as she had claimed when he left her son on the woman's doorstep.

Petunia wasn't as bad as Lily had mentioned a time or two. She was worse. The fact she had openly admitted to selling her 'freak' of a nephew to people who were up to some dubious experiments when the boy wasn't likely to live through it had hit him hard.

The only hope was the fact that the Potter vaults had yet to close, and the fact that when he had Sirius released from Azkaban the man was able to confirm young Harry's place on the portrait had yet to indicate his untimely demise.

Once he got over his well justified rampage of course.

Albus sighed, and noted that there were several transfers from Japan and Italy for next year, all taking their N.E.W.T.'s. Apparently one of their group had an inheritance in England, but due to the laws was forced to come here to take his secondary magical exam in order to claim it.

It was a fairly large group, and with any luck they might be able to add some new blood into the mix. With four Japanese students and four Italian, he had high hopes for this year.

Then he found an oddity, in that two 'extra' transfer students were also coming in from Italy. He didn't know why the name Gesso gave him such a bad feeling, only that the last time he had it he had been interviewing a younger, more 'innocent' Tom Riddle.

He shuddered and resolved to keep a closer eye on the boy.


	6. Chapter 6

In retrospect, the fact that Byakuran had magic and had found out they were about to spend an entire year in the UK long enough to insure that he also became a 'transfer student' wasn't that surprising.

Mukuro felt that this threat of finding a way to disembowel the albino Sky in the most painful and agonizing way possible if he ever thought of going after Chrome or Tsuna the way his future alternate did was rather justified. The fact Fon and Reborn (who were considered the acting chaperons of the two 'groups') did nothing to stop this rather vicious threat said a lot about how much they appreciated Byakuran's stunt in the Future-That-Never-Was.

Being killed off for an artifact you never asked for did that to you and the two Arcobaleno could hold a massive grudge if they so chose.

That being said, Byakuran at least had some idea of what training Sky flames was supposed to be like, and the two were willing to put aside their justified irritation with him if he was willing to teach Tsuna and Mukuro how to use theirs.

Reborn had gotten lucky for the most part with Tsuna's training... he had mostly asked Timoteo for advice on how the Vongola trained their heirs. With Mukuro it was a toss up, as Fon confirmed Sky flames were actually part of the Potter family line.

Cloud and Mists, however, were firmly from the Black side of his family bloodline...as was a certain tendency to be quite vicious when provoked or to head straight to the rather disturbing spells if someone pissed them off enough.

There was a reason the Blacks were feared, even with the current crop causing a sharp decline in their reputation.

Byakuran was rather cheerfully eating his marshmallows while Hayato got into a very heated discussion with a somewhat bored Spanner.

Apparently the mechanic had once gotten an invitation to the school they were going to, but had declined and moved to Italy with his grandfather where he had mostly home studied whenever he was bored. However since he had been born in England, he still needed to complete one year of schooling there to claim his rather limited inheritance, which was less about gold and more about spell research into obscure and rather powerful spells.

Officially he was considered Byakuran's vassal. Unofficially he was more inclined to follow Tsuna's lead...and was going to be establishing an internet connection the first chance he had because he had heard _stories_ of how backwards the school was.

They still used torches for light, for magic's sake!

"So any ideas which house we're going to end up in?" asked Spanner, sharing one of his special suckers with Tsuna, who accepted it absentmindedly.

"What do they look for?" asked Tsuna.

Before Spanner had a chance to reply, the door opened up to reveal the snack lady. Reborn and Fon openly frowned when they learned that the trolley had no healthy foods, only junk and candy items. It was like they wanted the kids on the train to come to the school with a massive sugar rush or to make them sick before they even got to eat real food.

Fortunately Reborn and Fon had the presence of mind to order several bentos before they came on the train under special preservation charms, but still.

"Tsuna, don't order more than a handful," said Reborn sternly.

Reborn had reluctantly agreed to drop the degrading nickname Tsuna had when addressing him, as Fon had pointed out it was only doing more harm than good. Tsuna's confidence was far too low already, and using it implied that Reborn believed his student wasn't worth actually training to begin with and would make things worse.

After dropping it for a week, Reborn had noticed a marked difference in the boy's attitude and work habits, and agreed Fon had a very good point about the nickname. It also meant he had to make a few minor adjustments to his training habits, but the results more than made up for it.

To be fair, he honestly hadn't expected Tsuna's confidence level to be _that_ bad that he would work his ass off just for a bit of praise and acknowledgement.

Tsuna bought a few things, mostly chocolate frogs and a box of what appeared to be jelly beans, before sitting down. Mukuro likewise got one or two things that he shared with Chrome and Ken. Ken was very enthusiastic about the frogs, once he got over the shock of the things actually _moving._

When lunch came around, they all eagerly dove into the bentos as the candy was very sugary and they needed something to absorb it before it made them sick.

It was a wonder how any of the students on the train made it to the school without throwing up from how strong it was, but perhaps they were more used to the overly-sweet nature of the candy.

Takeshi in particular looked as though the candy didn't agree with him, but then again he had never really favored the sugary drinks that his teammates liked to guzzle down after practice. Fortunately he had also brought along some sushi to share with his friends (and reluctantly Byakuran when the albino pouted a bit).

By the time they reached the school their stomachs had settled, but they still had an appetite for the feast that they had been warned about.

All ten of them were directed to a separate chamber to await the headmaster's announcement, as it would hardly be fair for the first years to have to be sorted with them.

Oddly it didn't take more than an hour for that to be over with and they all calmly walked into the great hall, already buzzing with the excitement of transfers.

Hayato scowled when he realized how many sycophants were looking at them with hungry eyes. He detested fan girls who only liked him because he happened to have good looks. The silverette edged towards Takeshi and Tsuna a bit more in irritation.

Mukuro, the lucky bastard, was glaring at anyone who's eyes lingered on Chrome or Tsuna for more than a few seconds at a time with any looks other than curiosity.

One by one they were called up.

Byakuran, Mukuro and Daemon were all promptly sorted into Slytherin without any hesitation from the hat.

Tsuna and surprisingly enough Chrome were sent to Gryffindor, though they avoided sitting with the red head who had a rather disturbing gleam in his eyes. Instead they sat close to a pair of twins with mischievous personalities and across from a boy who could give Tsuna a run for his money when it came to a nervous personality.

Hayato, Spanner and Kyouya all went into Ravenclaw, though that house quickly learned not to get on Kyouya's nerves if the glare he shot them all was any indication.

Smart move, considering he could be quite violent if they irritated him.

Takeshi and Ken went into Hufflepuff, though the hat almost declared something else entirely when he was on Takeshi.

Apparently there was a brief argument between the hat and the Rain Guardian due to the fact he was technically a 'squib' by English standards and thus not supposed to actually attend school like everyone else.

Reborn felt rather vindicated when Takeshi's nature as a natural hit man and a threat to get his boyfriend to turn the hat into ashes unless he sorted him properly made the hat see reason.

If by that one meant that Takeshi had absolutely no issue with destroying a centuries old artifact for doing it's job just because it pissed him off. It almost sorted him into Slytherin for that.

* * *

 _In Gryffidor..._

Tsuna rather liked Gryffindor, save for one minor factor that he could do without.

He didn't particularly like Ron Weasley, a fact that had started from the way he ate in a rather disgusting manner to the rude way the boy would ask questions and not actually listen to the answers.

Chrome had practically hidden herself behind Tsuna the _second_ she realized he was leering at her.

Tsuna found a kindred spirit in Neville, a rather nervous boy who wasn't particularly good at most magic, but was very good at herbology.

While he had never really gardened before, he could completely understand the boy's love of well tilled earth and just being able to relax while nuturing plants. Even if their discussion had been somewhat spoiled by Ron's rude comments about how Neville wasn't good for much outside of 'getting dirty with stupid plants'.

As they went to Gryffindor tower, Tsuna was openly relieved that he wouldn't have to share a dorm with Ron.

Due to the fact that Reborn was his _personal_ tutor, he got to have an adjoining room with the cursed man while Chrome opted to share with the other girls. At least for now.

Considering he could still hear Ron's snoring from inside the tower walls, he could only imagine how bad it was being in the same room as him. It was a miracle anyone was able to sleep with that racket going on.

* * *

 _In Ravenclaw_

Much like Tsuna, Kyouya was given an adjoining room in the tower next to Fon. While this might have annoyed him originally, the idea of having to share a room with the two others more than made up for having to spend a little extra time in the morning next to him.

At least Fon could get his blood pumping once he was properly awake in the morning and wouldn't keep him up or annoy him after class hours.

He could already see he had his work cut out for him when it came to instilling discipline in the obnoxious herbivores he now had to deal with. The 'prefects' were particularly foolish, allowing the bullying situation within the tower to get so out of hand just because of someone's bloodline.

Hayato was just glad he was sharing a room with Spanner, even if they did lose track of time more than once with some heavily technical discussions.

* * *

 _In Hufflepuff_

Ken, once the other students got over his rather brash attitude and almost feral manner, was an instant hit. Especially when he demonstrate his animal channels and didn't mind when the younger kids were around him. Despite his rough appearance, he was somewhat fond of kids.

Takeshi was an equally big hit, as his generally friendly attitude made him easily approachable by all, and he was rather pleased at hearing the interest for his favorite sport from his new classmates.

He resolved to get some more equipment for them to practice with and hoped Professor Sprout would allow them to form a few teams. It looked like the only real physical activity the school had was Quidditch, and only a small number of players could be on the team at any time.

* * *

 _In Slytherin_

"Kufufufu...!"

Mukuro was having a grand old time scaring the living shit out of his new 'classmates'. While it was annoying having to share a dorm with Byakuran, the fact he was able to scare the piss out of damn near every other student in the tower more than made up for it.

The self proclaimed "Prince" of Slytherin actually did piss himself when he annoyed Mukuro enough that the teen conjured up enough poisonous snakes to cover the braggart from head to toe...all without a single wand movement. For a 'proud serpent', Draco was unusually terrified of a few snakes.

Out of all the snakes, only one seemed to keep the trio of 'transfers' well within eyesight and with the proper wariness and respect one would give to a poisonous/venomous animal one would find in their bed unexpectedly.

As in he was properly respectful of their deadliness, but also not stupid enough to provoke them unnecessarily.

Mukuro made a note to comment on this to the two Arcobaleno that Zabini was quite well informed of who they were and the danger they posed if that was his initial reaction well before Draco openly pissed the Mist guardian off.

* * *

Reborn frowned, and Fon wasn't that far behind him.

"Where did you say the kitchens were located again?" asked Reborn.

The meals offered at the school were all far too heavy on the fat and had very little to offer in the way of 'healthy' alternatives like steamed fish or baked chicken. It was hard enough to find a decent salad or steamed vegatable, and the less said about the lack of any physical education save for Quidditch, the better.

Going up and down staircases wasn't good enough to maintain a healthy weight, especially when the children relied on cheats like the featherlight charm on their bags to reduce the burden.

"This is ridiculous. It's like they're deliberately trying to give these kids heart attacks," said Reborn.

"To say nothing of the blatant prejudice between houses," agreed Fon in disapproval. "Though to be honest the Defense professor worries me the most. Have you seen the look she's been giving our students?"

Professor Umbridge looked like a toad animagus who botched the transformation badly and was now permanently stuck between human and toad forms.

Fon had heard of her before, and nothing of what he knew of the woman was good at all. The fact she was even this close to the children worried him greatly.

"You know something."

"That woman is a die hard supporter of the neo-Nazi idiots that caused such trouble before Potter took them out. She hates anyone who isn't 'pure blood', well connected, wealthy and has more power than her. She has tried several times to draft up laws that would basically brand new bloods the same way the Jews were in Germany during Hitlers reign, or to make it legal to hunt werewolves simply for being afflicted with a condition that makes them a bit furry once a month through no fault of their own. The fact our students are not from England only make it worse...if they give her an inch she'll take more than just a mile simply because the current Minister, who is a blithering idiot, sent her here due to the fact he's worried Dumbledore is trying to take his post from him...despite the fact Dumbledore has had multiple chances to do so for years now and declined the position repeatedly," said Fon bluntly.

Reborn openly winced at that. Fortunately Fon had set up privacy spells beforehand and the room was completely empty of any portraits or ghosts.

"So if removing her through the normal channels is out, then what's plan B?"

Fon's smile was a bit sharp.

"Why the same as it is with any politician that's outgrown their use or has proven to be too big of a nuisance. Hogwarts warding only covers magical means of killing... I highly doubt that the magical cops around here would even know what a gunshot wound looks like, much less how to investigate for it. And if we happen to wear special gloves and the like to cover our flame signatures, they'll never trace it back to us," said Fon serenely. "But everything has to be done without magic or flames."

Reborn smirked at that. He could live with those restrictions.

"Let's wait until we find out what her end game is. If she targets any of our students, save for Byakuran, then her head is ours," said Reborn. Fon nodded in agreement.

Better to let the toad dig her own grave before they got ahead of themselves.


	7. Chapter 7

Tsuna wasn't the only one relieved when Fon announced that their first lesson, which would also double as an impromptu potions class since Snape clearly had no idea how one was supposed to teach children (throwing the direction on the board and demanding they follow it did _not_ count as a proper teaching method), would be how to cook their own food.

He was only mildly surprised when, after Tsuna mentioned where they were going and what they would be doing, Neville shyly asked to join in.

The boy had attached himself to Tsuna _very_ quickly, as the timid lion was somewhat of an outcast in his own house. Considering his repeated catastrophes in potions class, he needed all the help he could get.

Oddly enough, another joined in on their class from the Ravenclaw dorms. An active Rain-Cloud by the name of Luna Lovegood.

From what Reborn and Fon could tell, the poor girl had activated early and her dreamy-eyed look (which appeared more 'stoned' to them) could be caused by an overdose of tranquility in her core, causing her to be a bit less lucid than normal. The fact she hadn't been picked up by now was a bit baffling.

Her Cloud secondary was also somewhat underdeveloped, but it was pretty clear once she found a proper Sky to attach herself to she would be fiercely loyal.

Mukuro decided to let a bit of his own Sky out in the hopes she would drift towards it, since Tsuna already had Takeshi and he didn't trust Byakuran for a minute.

A little bit of kindness and the fact that he could openly create the creatures she 'saw' went a long way and there was no doubt in the adult's minds that Luna would become Mukuro's first proper Guardian.

Though Reborn was highly amused at the speculative looks she kept giving his own student. While Kyoko was an 'acceptable' wife for Tsuna, mostly because her brother was his Sun, she was far too much like Nana. The last thing he wanted to deal with was Tsuna getting an Oedipus complex of all things...Iemitsu's narcissistic and egotistical behavior was damaging enough.

"Today we are going to be learning how to cook simple basics. Neville, I'm going to teach you and possibly Luna how to do basic prep before we even remotely move on to active heat sources. This has nothing to do with your performance in potions and more that I simply wish to ascertain how much you already know about such things before we move on to the real deal," said Fon gently.

Neville perked up at that, and Fon mentally pegged the boy to have the same confidence issues as Tsuna.

Luna, surprisingly enough, quickly moved on to working with Chrome with the actual cooking while Ken and Daemon were stuck learning the bare bones of what Fon called "proper prep work". Daemon could burn water and Ken's knife work left much to be desired.

Mukuro was somewhere in the middle, and once he got over the tedious aspects of potion making he proved to have something of a knack for the art...which easily carried over to cooking, much to his surprise.

Meanwhile Takeshi was simply learning how to make proper sushi with the fish from London. He learned a long time ago that when it came to cooking, he did best without any heat involved. Last time he had burnt the entire pan up and his father had banned him from using anything save the microwave.

Fon gently coached Neville in how to properly hold the knife and cut his ingredients up. Since this was a simple salad, it wouldn't matter overly much if he cut them incorrectly.

It was amazing how quickly the somewhat pudgy boy was able to pick up on a basic lesson, and by the end of it he felt a little more confident about using a knife.

"Fon-sensei, can Neville join us in basic warm up exercises in the morning?" asked Tsuna respectfully.

Neville blinked.

"I don't see why not, but he'll have to get up a bit earlier than normal. It would give me time to come up with some simple exercises to hopefully work off some of that excess fat he has," said Fon.

"I don't want to be a bother," said Neville nervously.

"Nonsense. A child that wishes to learn something new should be encouraged, not mocked. If I wasn't inclined to allow you to join I would have said so," said Fon. "Never mind the fact that there is an appalling lack of physical education available. A bit of exercise and hard work is good for young men your age."

Neville seemed to be very shy, but Fon could also tell the boy was happy someone thought he was worth the time to train. Considering what he would find later, he suspected the boy was using an ill-fitted wand and was heavily discouraged from his real passion which was herbology.

Defense was such a complete joke that Reborn told them not to bother with it. They had better things to do with their time than listen to the propoganda that foul woman was trying to shove on them.

Reborn and Fon were both openly disgusted that the woman was telling children about to take important exams that if they were attacked they were simply to hide their heads in the sand like ostriches and wait for the Aurors to arrive.

Never mind the fact that these _same_ children needed good grades in defense in order to even be _considered_ for the Auror Academy, which meant the fool was literally shooting herself in the foot when it came to new recruits. To top it off she was so angry that they were avoiding her lessons she even banned study groups, which would only make it harder for them to pass their exams.

Fon was already drafting a letter to the exam committee with a strongly worded complaint about Umbridge's teaching style, or lack thereof. He also had complaints from several students of prominent families, such as Susan Bones who's aunt was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

He made sure to point out rather bluntly how difficult it would be for her niece to make Auror if the defense teacher assigned to the school didn't even have a Mastery and insisted on enforcing a strict policy of not allowing the students to practice the very spells that could save their lives.

He made sure to use a special courier owl bred by the family that would ensure the letter reached the intended recipients and not be waylaid by anyone else.

* * *

"Tsuna, why is there a bandage on your hand?" asked Fon somewhat sharply.

Tsuna flinched, and tried to hide it. Naturally he failed, as Fon grabbed his right hand causing him to wince openly.

Unraveling the bandages, Fon openly scowled. He could sense the dark magic on the boy's hand.

"What happened."

It wasn't a request.

Tsuna tried to speak, but couldn't. It wasn't that he was ashamed of what happened...he had only been following the direct order of a teacher and he knew damn well how Kyouya felt about students skiving off a detention (in Namimori it was simply easier to go, because Hibari had a habit of hunting down and putting people in the hospital for a month if they tried to ditch).

Except he couldn't speak. Every time he tried to explain all that came out was gibberish.

Fon's frown deepened.

"Let's try a different method. Tsuna, were you in detention with Umbridge at any point?" he asked carefully.

Rather than vocalize, he nodded.

"I see. Did she make you use any 'special' equipment or bring out anything strange?"

Tsuna thought for a moment, before he went to his bag an pulled out a random quill. He quickly scribbled the kanji for 'black' (pointing at the quill as he did), before writing down 'blood' and 'ink'.

A black quill that used blood ink.

Fon's ire was so great his eyes turned a very vengeful red color.

"She made you use a black quill that used blood for ink?"

Tsuna nodded.

"First we are going to find Reborn so he can properly heal up your wound. Then I am going to have a chat with the others about this matter. Under no circumstances are you to follow any orders from that woman or anyone else that results in you being alone with her for any length of time after this. I don't care if it's the headmaster himself, are we clear?"

"Yes sensei," said Tsuna relieved.

"Remember, while the teachers do have some limited authority over you, in the end you answer to Reborn and myself _first_. Our orders override theirs when it comes to your health and safety, and I don't care what they have to say about it."

Tsuna looked considerably relieved hearing that...after hearing a fraction of what went on in the school from the last few years from Neville and the twins, he felt safer having to deal with Reborn's antics in Namimori over the school's idea of security.

Reborn looked rather pissed when Fon explained to him what happened, and quietly healed over Tsuna's injury. Fortunately he had only suffered through _one_ detention with the foul woman so the wound was relatively easily to fix, even with Reborn's limited skills in healing.

However the fact she used what was basically a torture device on _his_ student... the toad had signed her death warrant.

* * *

McGonagall thought herself a hardened veteran of two wars.

However the sight before her was enough to turn even her stomach as she vacated the room long enough to empty her stomach contents all over the floor.

Out of the other teachers, only Snape and Dumbledore were able to keep from throwing up...barely.

Whoever had killed Umbridge had not been quick or 'pleasant' about it. It was very clear she had been worked over by someone who knew exactly what they were doing to inflict maximum pain as she had been quite literally tortured to death for hours. Her wand was kept just out of reach on the table, while Umbridge herself had been shackled to the wall with the same manacles that Filch often threatened the students with.

Ironically the man in question was one of the most pale as he had been the one to discover the woman's corpse along with his new cat, Mrs. Norris the fourth.

"Who could have done this? The wards should have picked up on magic as foul as this!" said McGonagall, once she reclaimed her compusure.

"Magic? Don't be ridiculous," said Snape.

The other teachers, including Dumbledore looked at him.

"Take a look over there. Whoever did this didn't use any magic whatsoever, which is why the wards never picked up on anything until she actually died," said Snape. "They must have done something to really piss off a professional, for them to do this much damage in so little time."

Snape had a very good idea who was behind it too, as Zabini had explained to him _exactly_ what Mukuro was and what he could do the second he recognized him the morning after the sorting.

Finding out they were hosting two of the Arcobaleno had come as a nasty shock, especially when Zabini warned him about Mukuro and Byakuran.

However he wasn't stupid enough to bring down the ire of Reborn on his ass by alerting the headmaster exactly what he had allowed into the castle. He wasn't suicidal.

Instead Snape decided to kill time before the Aurors came to investigate the scene to track down the two cursed men and have a long overdue chat.

"Next time you plan to murder someone, do it outside the castle. Dumbledore's irritating enough as it is without dragging me into investigating someone's long overdue demise," he said flatly.

Reborn and Fon didn't even try for innocent.

"Whatever do you mean," asked Reborn.

Snape gave Reborn a flat look.

"Dumbledore might be an idiot, but even I know what the word Arcobaleno means. I barely get enough sleep as it is with the damn patrols and classes I have to teach, and I don't want to deal with any more open murders on top of it."

"I'll be sure to let Kyouya and Takeshi know to dump the bodies where the acromantula will find them then," said Fon, only half joking.

"...If you plan to off any of my Slytherins, could you at least give me fair warning so I have time to pre-draft a condolence letter?" he asked.

He wasn't about to stop these two from doing a little 'cleansing' of the gene pool. Some people were better off being removed early before their stupidity spread through their children. Like Crabbe and Goyle for instance.

Reborn was so openly amused by the request that he agreed to it.

On the plus side they had basically been given carte blanche to get rid of a few idiots that would cause trouble later so long as they gave Snape some warning ahead of time so he could draft a condolence letter and didn't have to deal with searching for the body.

If that didn't amuse Mukuro, Daemon, Hayato and Kyouya, nothing would. All three of them had been getting very antsy for the past two weeks having to restrain themselves from their more violent responses.

Takeshi had it easy. Everytime someone brought up his lack of wand or the fact he avoided any class that required far too much magic, he was able to skirt the issue claiming his clan didn't allow it and would scare off the one asking with a rather terrifying smile that implied they were about to meet the business end of Shigure Kintoki if they didn't drop it.


	8. Chapter 8

Chrome knew immediately when she felt the arm around her waist that it wasn't Mukuro-sama or Tsuna. For one thing, she _always_ knew when Mukuro was nearby, and Tsuna would never be so brazen.

Never mind the fact that Tsuna was perfectly happy that she was with Mukuro, and knew about the contract.

Chrome attempted to remove the arm, but whoever had her was rather stubborn.

"Please take your hands off me," she said firmly, but politely.

It was only when she heard the distinct sound of a yelp behind her and the familiar sensation of a very pissed off Mukuro that she relaxed.

"Next time you lay your hands on my betrothed, _Weasley_ , I'll do more than simply punch you," said Mukuro with an icy tone.

Chrome heard through their telepathic link _"If he touches you again, let me know immediately and I'll deal with it...even if it means using you to deliver the reminder not to touch girls without permission."_

Chrome mentally nodded... if it meant not having anyone touch her like that again, when she made it clear she didn't like it, then she had absolutely no issue with letting Mukuro-sama use her body to deliver a lesson on leaving her alone.

"What did you do to our brother?" asked Fred frowning.

"Your considerably more idiotic younger brother had his hands on my betrothed, despite the fact she made it abundantly clear she wanted nothing to do with him. He's lucky I only gave him a black eye," said Mukuro coldly. He was definitely pissed. "I would have thought a _gentleman_ such as your brother would know that it is unacceptable to touch a girl without her express permission first and to drop it when she indicates she is not interested."

The twins both winced at that, before looking at Lavender who had watched the entire thing with disgust and jealousy.

"She made it clear she wasn't interested after he put his arm around her, and she did try to get away from him," she replied without them having to ask. She was jealous Ron was more interested in the new girl than her, but she was disgusted when he didn't take the hint after she made it clear she had no interest in him.

It was only after the fact that Chrome quietly told Lavender thank you.

"I don't think Mukuro-sama would be happy if someone touched his betrothed like that twice. Ron was lucky... he actually went easy on the boy for his actions instead of gutting him like he normally would."

Because she had absolutely _no_ doubt Mukuro _would_ gut someone for touching her. Say what you would about his personality, but he was downright possessive of people he claimed and he did not like other men touching his girlfriend.

Some girls might be appalled at that level of violence or upset by how possessive he could be. Not Chrome...she found it comforting because she knew it was a sign he wouldn't abandon her and he wouldn't do more than look briefly at other girls.

Mukuro had legitimate trust issues. But once he latched onto you, he would never let you go and he would happily kill to protect what was his.

Lavender stared at her in shock.

"You're betrothed to that total hottie?!" she nearly shrieked. She couldn't wait to tell Parvati!

Chrome blushed.

"When we had a scan done of our magical cores, it was found that we have a natural resonance of sorts that goes soul deep. As such once it was confirmed we weren't related in any way Mukuro-sama had Fon-sensei help him draft up a contract since he knew he could at least tolerate being around me for extended periods and it provided a measure of protection for us both."

Lavender was more focused on the fact that the total hottie Mukuro was Chrome's literal soul mate. As a romance buff it appealed to all of her sensibilities.

"Details, leave nothing out! How far have you gone? What sort of kisser is he?" gushed Lavender.

Chrome's face turned a bright red at the questions Lavender asked. She didn't dare ask Mukuro for help...she had the distinct feeling he would be more amused than anything at her predicament.

* * *

In retrospect, the fact it took five full weeks for the Terror Twins of Gryffindor to meet the almost literal embodiment of Chaos in the mafia was very surprising.

The two red heads looked at Reborn, who stared right back before a slow, "innocent" expression crossed his face.

"Ciaossu," he said by way of greeting, and in another part of the castle Fon, Snape and McGonagall all felt shivers of doom go down their spines as the twins smirked back.

Tsuna knew something absolutely terrible had happened when he caught them bowing in respect to Reborn saying "All hail Loki, king of chaos!" while Reborn smirked like the devil himself while stroking Leon much like a ridiculous Bond villain would a cat.

"Who or what is Loki?" asked Tsuna, once he got over the sheer ridiculousness of the scene.

"The Scandanavian trickster god. He's basically the embodiment of chaos and trickery, as well as fire, in Norse mythology," said Reborn. "He's also very well known as a shapeshifter and is the father of the three precursors to the end of the world which they call Ragnarok."

"...I always thought a Yatagarasu fit you better," admitted Tsuna. Though this Loki character did fit Reborn suspiciously well too.

Reborn smirked at the unintended compliment.

"So oh great lord of Chaos, who is Tsuna to you?" asked Fred.

"Tsuna is one of my students and with any luck a future minion," said Reborn with aplomb. He was enjoying this way too much. "Unfortunately he has the same confidence issue that young Neville has."

"Oh dear kami, you've acquired _minions_ who will aid you in your insanity," said Tsuna with horror. If he was reading the gleam in their eyes correctly, he knew to expect an untold level of chaos and headaches in his future. Tsuna's face suddenly took a strange level of calm. "Am I expected to pay for any damages or take responsibility for your actions?"

"Not in the least. If anything _I_ have to pay for anything _you_ do wrong," said Reborn.

"Then fuck it, consider me a passive observer more than happy to ignore pleas for me to get you to stop while I laugh at the chaos you intend to cause," deadpanned Tsuna.

If he wasn't legally responsible for Reborn or required to pay for any damages (or worse, do the paperwork for it), then he wasn't going to give a damn. He was just going to sit back, enjoy the show and laugh at people when they demanded he intervene in order to get Reborn to stop.

A wicked smile appeared on Reborn's face upon hearing that.

"I'm so proud of you. You've finally given in to the chaos side."

"No, I've just learned there _is_ a point where I can safely claim to hell with it and simply let the chaos happen," deadpanned Tsuna. "As long as it doesn't involve me, then your antics are absolutely _not my problem._ "

Mukuro, the jerk, would just laugh and laugh and _laugh_ when he heard what Tsuna said. Mostly because he planned to put that sort of attitude to the test when it came to playing with his favorite birdy... and no, he was _not_ flirting with Kyouya regardless of what that asshole Hayato implied!

(Hayato would end up in the hospital wing for a week from blunt force trauma and a few stab wounds from a very annoyed Mukuro and Hibari when he voiced this unfortunate opinion out loud, within their hearing. Madam Pomphrey was not pleased.)

* * *

It took a detention alone with Mukuro before someone started to suspect his original identity as the "missing savior".

Sirius Black had memorized his godson's scent from the few items that still carried it, having prayed fervently to the Trickster gods that he would one day find the boy.

After Umbridge's sudden (but not unwelcome) demise, Dumbledore had brought him in to act as the replacement teacher until the end of the year. It had taken some delicate footwork, mostly because of his stint in Azkaban, but Sirius had gotten the job.

No one wanted another Umbridge in the castle, not after it was discovered she had quite literally tortured the students with a restricted artifact that could be used to collect blood for dark rituals under the flimsiest of excuses. It had been Tsuna's inclusion in the group of her victims that really landed Fudge in hot water... mostly because despite the fact that Timoteo was classified as a "squib" by the Italian Ministry, it was still considered a very high up "pure blood" family.

That she attacked the current magical heir of the family with those quills meant that even if she _had_ lived, she wouldn't have seen the outside of Azkaban.

"Are you aware that you look like a pineapple with that hair cut?" asked Sirius.

What better way to get a measure of the Slytherin who had all the other Snakes avoiding him with enough wariness that it reminded him of Bellatrix than to see how he fought?

And Sirius was the Master of being an annoying arse when he put his mind to it, as Snape would gladly claim.

Mukuro glared at him, his red eye sharpening...and did that weird symbol in his eye flicker to a new one or was he imagining it?!

"Call me a pineapple again and I will gladly make you believe you were dropped into a drag queen bar with a lot of fat, _horny_ men in badly fitted dresses and assless chaps. All expecting hugs," he said darkly.

Sirius shuddered at the mere thought of that, but didn't drop it.

"Pineapple."

Mukuro materialized a _trident_ of all things and had a fairly murderous gleam in his eyes.

"At least I don't look like an old used up fleabag man whore who's seen better days," he sniped, leather clad hands gripping his trident with an intent to stab him with it.

"This coming from the boy having a violent relationship with the kid that has the biting kink?" said Sirius smirking at him. Something about this exchange almost reminded him of the times he matched wits with James. It was rather odd.

Oh it was on now.

Sirius cackled as he dodged the attack from the trident, though he had to wince when he saw it destroy the desk.

Mukuro expertly twirled the unusual weapon and continued to attack, using his trident much the same way one would a spear. But the thing that alarmed Sirius the most was the ease with which the much younger boy used conjurations and illusions. He dismissed a snake only to feel it sink it's fangs deep into his leg. The pillar of fire felt so real that it took a considerable amount of concentration to get out of the illusion.

However it was when he got in close that his nose caught a scent that almost had him lose his head to the very pissed off Slytherin. Unlike the other students in the castle, Mukuro would not hesitate to go into lethal attacks and it showed.

No wonder the other snakes were so leery of him...they knew when a superior predator was in their midst.

Sirius might have thought his nose was lying to him, had he not memorized that scent over the years after Dumbledore _finally_ cleared his name in the hopes his nose would lead him to his pup. He often went around with his nose partially transformed into Padfoot's so that he had a better chance of catching that scent.

It baffled him that the bloodthirsty bastard in front of him had the same scent as Harry.

However considering how badly the headmaster had screwed up by leaving his godson to that damn shrew, who _openly_ admitted to SELLING his pup to people known to do human experimentation, he wasn't about to enlightened the headmaster as to the REAL reason Mukuro and his group could have come to Hogwarts.

Anyone with that amount of skill didn't need a year of training in the school. He was dangerous and powerful enough to pass the tests on his own merit, and was likely only doing this to keep his inheritance.

Still, perhaps he could find out if Mukuro really was his pup through his friends. Starting with the little lion cub Tsuna, if he remembered right.

He would have to make sure to include that scary as hell tutor/minder of his. Instinct told him if he tried to have the kid in his office without a chaperon and something happened he would end up very dead in short order.

* * *

 _Two days later..._

Tsuna was understandably nervous meeting the new Defense teacher after what happened with Umbitch, as she was happily called by most of the students.

However a few things kept him from freaking out too much about it.

One, the new teacher felt like a slightly calmer, more doggish version of Reborn with the same personality of Shamal. Two, he had made it clear that Tsuna was free to leave the office at any time if he felt uncomfortable and he mostly had questions about Mukuro's eye. And three, which was the main reason he was going at all, he had explicitly told Tsuna he was allowed to bring the 'runty chaos magnet' with him.

Reborn, true to his usual chaotic self, became best friends with the man almost immediately the second he had the measure of Professor Black.

He also figures out the _real_ reason Sirius called them in without being told.

Perhaps it's a sign of shared paranoia, or maybe Black had some sense under the hound dog persona of his. But the second Reborn gives him a Look the moment the conversation turns to Mukuro, Black hits the room with so many secrecy and privacy charms that even Reborn is mildly impressed with it. It doesn't hurt that Sirius had made very, very sure to vacate any portraits or other objects in the room like mirrors to insure no one would hear them, or as close as he could get.

"What's your relation to the Black family?" said Reborn the moment he was relatively certain they wouldn't be heard.

Sirius blinked.

"Officially I'm the current head of the family. Unofficially the old magicks have declared me a 'steward' until the proper heir takes the mantle of family head and comes of age," he said immediately. "I'm also the Steward of the Potter family because I'm the closest living relative to James before he died, and was almost blood adopted by the Potters."

Reborn smirks.

"And what would you do if you found the missing heir?"

Because had absolutely no issue with giving this man a concussion to the point he would have trouble verifying anything they told him. He might not have magic, but he knew that head trauma could make any witness impossible to verify if done right.

"Mostly find out if he's happy with where he is and whether or not it would be a viable option to try and reconnect with my missing godson," said Sirius without hesitation. "Dumbledore (he practically spat the name in anger) can go sit on it and spin if he thinks I'm going to hand over my godson when he's the reason Harry went missing."

Reborn felt like he was telling the truth, but turned to his student. The Vongola Hyper Intuition could make a better lie detector than anything Reborn could pull sometimes.

"He's not lying," said Tsuna, and Reborn could see the faint amber gleam of Tsuna listening to his intuition in his eyes. "He genuinely wants to reconnect with his godson."

"Even if your godson turns out to be a bloodthirsty psychopath who could make even your 'dark lord' balk at pissing him off?" asked Reborn.

Sirius looked the tiny man dead in the eye.

"So long as he's not a complete mad dog like Bellatrix, I can learn to live with it. Blacks aren't known for being entirely stable when they're pushed past a certain point, _especially_ if they've awakened the infamous Black Fury."

"Black Fury?" repeated Reborn.

"When someone with a strong enough connection to the main family gets pushed too far, and they're put into a life-threatening situation, we have a habit of awakening soul fire, particularly indigo or violet. When that happens, we tend to lose ourselves in the adrenaline rush that comes in a life or death fight and can go on a rampage until our enemy is dead. It's part of the reason why no one pisses off a Black unless they are very, very stupid," said Sirius shrugging. "Or in the case of Bellatrix, it tips the rather delicate scale into madness and they have to be put down quickly or they'll shame the family. I think the only reason she's even alive now is because Grandfather was on the verge of dying anyway and she was killing only the 'acceptable' people with her madness."

"Acceptable?" repeated Tsuna horrified, and for good reason.

"She didn't go after fellow pure bloods, only those of mixed heritage, muggleborns and even muggles. If anything Cygnus and my mother encouraged her behavior," said Sirius in disgust. "So long as my godson isn't anything like that, I can learn to live with a few bloodthirsty habits."


	9. Chapter 9

Draco Malfoy was not entirely too bright, nor was he particularly brave. He had an inflated sense of superiority and a rather large ego that came from the fact no one was stupid enough to go against his father.

This was not helped in the least by the fact that when Voldemort returned, the Malfoy family had been quick to offer him their mansion as a place to live in and were considered fairly high in his favor.

Of course Draco wasn't stupid enough to try and use the Dark Lord's name to get an even bigger ego and more kowtowing, but it was still implied.

Then his world came crumbling down because of _him_.

Mukuro fucking Rokudo and his weird as hell twin Daemon. Both of whom happily scared the living hell out of the other Slytherins to the point they'd rather risk his father's ire than theirs.

And that was unacceptable. He was the Slytherin prince, not some nameless nobodies with weird hairstyles and strange eyes. Mukuro's eyes didn't even _match,_ for Merlin's sake! There was also a rumor that the odd symbol in his right eye changed depending on his mood, but no one had been brave enough to confirm that.

And don't get Draco started on Mukuro's choice in women. That Chrome girl was barely acceptable as a mistress, never mind a _wife_. The girl had a fake eye, was too skinny to properly bear many heirs, and was a Gryffindor.

However...whatever self preservation instincts still in the Malfoy heir told him that pissing off the mismatched teen was a very bad idea. As in "Mukuro would brutally murder him" bad.

Even Zabini, who normally didn't bother with such things, made sure to stay firmly on their good side, as if he knew something about them.

However that self preservation couldn't compete with the sheer lack of common sense and the fact there hadn't been anyone to really _challenge_ him rank wise.

Which was why he decided to teach the mudblood bitch Chrome a lesson about who her betters were. It would have worked for Granger, except she had transferred to Beauxbatons after the rather disasterous first year when she was nearly killed by a troll.

Something about how her parents weren't exactly pleased no one had notified them about the incident, or the fact that her 'studies' were so behind.

Draco had no idea how badly he was about to get screwed over.

"No, you can't kill that idiot for harassing your girlfriend. Not only would the paperwork for it be horrendous, but I'm the brat's godfather and his parents would have my head if they knew I had previous knowledge of his demise," said Snape when Mukuro went to warn him that Draco was a dead man after Chrome asked him for help in getting rid of him. A brief scan of her memories had him cheerfully ready to kill the prat.

"Is permanent trauma and maiming still allowed?" asked Daemon.

"So long as I don't have to hear Narcissa or Lucius bitch about it later, I don't care. He's become intolerable since he hit puberty," said Snape.

The little shit could use the reality check.

Mukuro's smirk was not for the faint hearted.

* * *

Narcissa and Lucius were looking at the comatose form of their son. He was still alive, but he had to be stunned because he wouldn't stop screaming.

"Kufufufu..."

A shiver of fear went down their spines. It was an instinctive thing.

"Condolences for your spawn," said a boy wearing Slytherin colors.

Lucius glared at him, however Narcissa focused more on the ring the boy was wearing on his left hand, next to two others.

"What did he do to piss you off so much, Lord _Black_?" she asked calmly.

Compared to some of the other 'punishments', even she knew this was a relatively tame one. She had seen worse growing up.

Mukuro's eyes gleamed, particularly the right one, in a terrifying manner...for anyone other than the two before him.

"The fool ignored a firm warning to leave my betrothed alone. Just because she is in Gryffindor does not excuse such reckless behavior, and his ego has been rather irritating to deal with. He's lucky Snape asked for leniency...I've been known to straight out murder people for less," said Mukuro bluntly.

Narcissa and Lucius believed him. This was no weak-willed brat raised on Dumbledore's legends...this was someone who had gotten his hands dirty and wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who got in his way. A proper Slytherin.

"Nufufufu... do you need any assistance, brother?" said a voice from behind.

Narcissa didn't turn, though Lucius did.

A boy _almost_ identical to the first, though without the rings and mismatched eyes, appeared without much warning at all.

A good tactic to deal with those who might prove to be an issue sooner rather than later.

Narcissa was entirely too calm about the matter, though Lucius knew this would have serious repercussions.

When Dumbledore came to 'talk' to them, they were amused and slightly baffled when he started talking to thin air.

"The old fool will see exactly what he expects. Speak as 'freely' as you wish, but know if that hypocrite Riddle attempts to come after me and mine I will not hesitate to slaughter any of your little group," said Mukuro pleasantly.

"How are you lord Black?" asked Narcissa curiously.

"Kufufufu. Sirius named me heir when I was born, as he had no intention of having any himself," said Mukuro.

Narcissa noted the other ring under his shirt, and the pieces fell easily into place to where she could make a general guess about the truth.

"I see. What are your terms?" asked Lucius.

"Leave me and my allies alone. We could care less about England and only came here to get the year over with so that I could claim my full inheritance. I have no use for the magical enclaves, much less dealing with the idiots in it," said Mukuro bluntly. "However if he attempts to try and fulfill that ridiculous prophecy, then I will personally take action...as will the Vongola."

Narcissa stiffened. Now she knew why that odd ring on his finger looked familiar. It was the ring of the Mist Guardian.

And now that she thought about it, the 'teen' behind her bore a terrifying resemblance to a much younger Daemon Spade.

Mukuro smirked.

"If I were you, I'd take your son home for a few days to explain to him in detail the error he made in pissing me off. I will not be so...kind...a second time."

"One question... were you wearing the Black heir's ring when he went after your betrothed?" asked Narcissa.

"I never take it off, or any of the others I have on," said Mukuro.

"Then it seems I will be retraining my son about his duties as a Black and how going after the heir's betrothed is worse than social suicide."

"You might want to tell him that if he expects to actually get anywhere, he should stop trying to threaten people with his father," commented Mukuro. "He's much like one of those annoying little yapper show dogs. All bark, not a single bit of bite to back up his words. The only reason anyone in Slytherin takes him seriously is because Snape backs him up and because Dumbledore is an idiot who won't crack down on his bullying behavior, but once that gets taken away, people are going to be more than happy to brutally murder him for being such a whiny little shit for all these years."

Narcissa gave Lucius a dark look.

"I'll keep that in mind. I was unaware that he used that excuse often enough that he's failed to properly instill respect."

"Also if I see Bellatrix, I will end her. I have zero tolerance for people who torture children...they're far more useful if you keep them alive and intact to turn into future loyal cannon fodder," said Mukuro.

Narcissa's mouth thinned at that, but even she could admit to herself that Bellatrix had crossed the thin line between acceptable madness and being a mad dog that needs to be put down.

It was one thing to be respected for being a powerful, if slightly unhinged witch. It was another thing entirely to have your entire bloodline compared to someone who had lost what little grip on reality they had and be compared to mad dogs that needed to be put down.

"What of Andromeda?" asked Narcissa.

"I have already put the paperwork through to make her a full Black once more, as well as her daughter. Inbreeding is the reason you lost that gift in the first place... I see no reason why I should let any of the family go because they didn't marry a cousin. It's why I opted to make a betrothal contract with Chrome long before I set foot in the castle. If you must marry a pure blood, then cast your net outside Britian first and you'll insure that the child at least will have a higher chance of being magical."

"I will keep that in mind, my lord," said Narcissa.

Mukuro and Daemon disappeared, as if they had never been there in the first place. They might have been or they could have sent a copy in their place.

Lucius looked at his wife.

"We are going to have a talk with our son that he will not like," said Narcissa flatly.

Angering the head of the family by going after his future wife...what in blazes had Draco been thinking?! Even she could tell the boy had far more political potential than anyone in the castle and was very powerful to boot.

What possessed that foolish boy to go after someone like that?!

* * *

Draco came back to Hogwarts a month later, and he almost _cringed_ when he saw Mukuro. Whatever Narcissa said to him had a rather clear effect on his behavior, because he dropped the less than vague threats about using his father's name and started threatening them with what _he_ would do to people.

Considering how often he used his father as a fall back, the position of Slytherin Prince quickly fell to Mukuro because he could actually back up what he said and he _always_ followed through if warnings were given.

As a result, the knowledge that Mukuro had the power to cull Malfoy's arrogant behavior and wouldn't hesitate to go after anyone that targeted those under his protection spread very fast.

Without even caring about it or trying, he had the bulk of the traditional and neutral pure bloods on his side. Tsuna, on the other hand, had managed to rally the 'good' or 'progressive' pure bloods who generally sided with Dumbledore on his own side.

Between the two of them, they could have easily ruled the school. Reborn was very pleased and highly amused by this because rules only applied as long as the students followed them.

He was so very, very tempted to convince Tsuna to replicate what his ancestor did on British soil. He was sure that the Italian magicals wouldn't miss the obvious signs that Tsuna was the Primo's reincarnation, as so many of the mafia was already claiming.

He was sure the resulting chaos would be hilarious for him and Fon.

"You're up to something, old friend. Care to share?" asked Fon amused.

"Just imagining the fun to be had by convincing Tsuna and Mukuro to recreate what the Primo did," said Reborn cheerfully.

Fon paused, then face palmed with a sigh. Reborn looked at him curiously.

"I have clearly spent far too much time with you, because I can't think of a single reason to dissuade you from doing so. If anything they could use a good shaking up," he admitted with great reluctance. "It would also give Tsuna and Mukuro some needed experience leading during the closest they could get to light warfare and possibly give him an idea of what the Primo dealt with, just in a more modern setting."

Reborn's look of dark glee gave Fon headaches. Too bad he honestly couldn't give a damn about what was about to be unleashed on magical UK.

"So you'll help?"

"Just remember if we go through with this idea, that Mukuro needs to be the one 'in-charge' of the British, because he was actually born here and has ties to the community. Otherwise the ICW will cause you no end of trouble and appoint complete idiots who are already set in their ways. Tsuna can do the bulk of the diplomacy, but Mukuro should be the official leader," said Fon.

Reborn hummed. Strategically it made sense... Mukuro was technically British even if he had an Italian citizenship. And if it was a British wizard raised in Italy who took over, then the foreign body that governed the various enclaves really had no reason to step in.

If they were going to actually correct the problem, they would have stepped in years ago when Voldemort was active. As far as they needed to know it would be an internal issue only.

Now to convince the boys...namely Tsuna. He was likely to be the most against it, while Mukuro would happily join in for the chaos.

Reborn had been surprised and delighted to find out that the Mist had a dark sense of humor that fit in terrifyingly well with his own.

So well in fact, that during the 'training' with Byakuran (who was more than happy to share what he knew, so long as the bribed him with magical marshmallows first) that Reborn felt something odd happening with his flames.

It took him a moment to realize they had spiked, then settled and a warmth was growing in his old bones.

"You've harmonized," said Fon in shock.

"The question is which one does the bond go to?" asked Reborn.

It took him a few moments to register the confusion on Mukuro's face.

"Is something wrong?" said Tsuna concerned.

"I'm not sure. It feels like something has attached itself to me, but I have no idea what," admitted Mukuro.

He found himself acting as more of an 'older brother' figure to the younger Sky, a role Tsuna was perfectly comfortable with. He couldn't exactly treat Mukuro the same as the others after changing his diapers for several days and wrapping his arms around him when he had nightmares.

Reborn followed the bond with his own flames and found a Sky that was heavily enshrouded by the mists, covering an 'egg' of sorts that radiated natural Sky and Sun flames.

He face palmed.

"Out of all the Skies here, I had to harmonize with Mukuro," he complained.

Mukuro heard that and looked at him oddly.

"What."

"It would seem our wavelengths are so naturally in tune and that your power levels are strong enough that I've managed to become your Sun," he clarified.

Fon had a curious expression on his face. He hopped onto Mukuro's shoulder and said "Try bringing out your Sky flame for a moment."

If Mukuro was strong enough to handle Reborn, then perhaps he could do the same for Fon.

The warmth that flowed into his bones and into his very soul was nothing compared to the pale imitation he had with Luce before. It was so much better. Yes, there was darkness in his soul, but Mukuro wasn't actually evil. Just violent and fiercely protective.

"I think we need to do a count and see which guardians you two actually have and which ones are still needed."

Tsuna had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Can I use your owl to contact Enma?"

"Why?" asked Mukuro.

"I think Neville is an Earth Flame, or has one of that set because I keep having a weird sense of dejavu around him and thinking of Enma for some reason. And a few othes actually," said Tsuna.

"Sure. She could use the exercise," said Mukuro dismissively. "Bribe her with bacon first, because she keeps stealing mine."

Tsuna brightened and went to borrow some parchment. By nightfall the white owl was heading to the hidden island Enma and the others called their home.


	10. Chapter 10

Surprisingly, Tsuna didn't need much convincing at all. And the second they even _mentioned_ the idea to Mukuro he had been all for it without needing the explanation.

Reborn was very suspicious about that.

"Mukuro I can get, but why are you so accepting of overthrowing the English enclaves?" he asked Tsuna.

Tsuna had a pained look on his face. He still hadn't heard back from Enma, but it might take a day or two for the owl to reach them...and for Enma not to freak out over a messenger bird.

"Neville told me that his own uncle thought it was perfectly acceptable to hold him out of a window and when the man let go by accident and he managed to survive, that he was given a toad and a congratulations. Any society that thinks _that_ is acceptable behavior or a way to treat a child simply because of a special power or talent _needs_ to get a reality check," he said flatly.

That seemed to settle Reborn's fears. For a moment there he had thought something had happened to his student. He had simply forgotten to factor in Tsuna's love of small children and the fact he had quickly befriended the quiet Neville.

Though it didn't stop Reborn from changing the topics to something he found far more amusing.

"So Tsuna, how was your date with Ms. Lovegood yesterday?"

Tsuna turned into a tomato, his face was that red.

"Reborn!"

Mukuro latched on to this bit of news with glee.

"Yes, Tsuna, how did your date go with my Rain?" he purred.

Tsuna turned to glare at him, though it was a kitten glower at best.

"How did your snogging session with Chrome go when Snape caught you?" he shot back.

"We didn't 'snog'," sniffed Mukuro. "We were having an intense discussion about something."

"In a closet, with less than all your clothes on, from what I was told," Tsuna said darkly.

Reborn cackled. It was official, as backwards as this place was it was doing worlds of good for Tsuna. He was actually developing some sass and a proper backbone. The timid kitten he had first met was swiftly developing into a proper tiger cub.

He would say lion, but considering what Iemitsu's nickname was Reborn was very reluctant to compare Tsuna to his sperm donor. That man was an idiot and Reborn thanked his lucky stars that Tsuna shared almost nothing in common with him.

Tigers were at least Asian, and he knew for a fact that Tsuna had a more "Japanese" mindset than an Italian one so the comparison suited him much better.

Reborn looked to Tsuna seriously.

"Personally I think it's much better that you've developed an interest in the Lovegood girl and not your Sun's sister," said Reborn.

"Why?" asked Tsuna, confused.

"Let me put it this way... have you ever compared Kyoko Sasegawa to your mother?"

Tsuna blinked, before mentally making a list of comparisons...and turning horrified. He shuddered when he realized Kyoko had far too much in common with his own mother, which would neatly explain why his crush on her had lasted so long. Well, outside of the fact that she had never once called him "Dame-Tsuna".

"I always wondered why you let that borderline Oedipus complex continue," said Mukuro.

Reborn blinked and looked at him.

"You've read Oedipus?"

"I like reading the older myths. I find it particularly comforting to see stories of people getting screwed over by forces outside their control in spectacular ways, and in one of my past lives I was a scholar," shrugged Mukuro. "The Greek and Roman myths were particularly interesting, even if it painted a very clear picture of how screwed up the pantheon actually was. Compared to them, the Norse pantheon could be considered rather tame."

Reborn looked rather delighted to find yet another commonality between him and his new Sky.

"What's your opinion of Zeus and Hera?"

"A very dysfunctional marriage between a serial rapist and a spurned wife who was too stubborn to get a divorce," said Mukuro without hesitation. "And don't get me started on what a whore Aphrodite was, never mind what a manipulative bitch she could be when she wanted something."

"Oh?" said Reborn with interest, not really caring that the others were listening to the whole conversation with amusement.

"She made Medea fall in love with Jason, completely disregarding her own status as the princess and even twisting the girl's mind to the point that she killed her own father and brother for him. Then when he goes and gets a new, younger wife and leaves her, she is so distraught in her grief and rage that she murdered her own children. Frankly I can't really blame her for that sort of reaction, considering he essentially raped her for years and used her until she was too 'old' for his liking," said Mukuro flatly. "And all because Aphrodite decided that making the girl fall in love with a man who didn't actually give a damn about her would help with his stupid quest."

Reborn looked rather pleased.

"I'm confused," said Tsuna.

"I'll give you a book about general Greek myths. The incident Mukuro mentions is actually part of a well known Greek story, as is Oedipus. Though the latter is mostly used to reference the dangers of believing in prophecy and how some are more 'self-fulfilling' than others," said Reborn.

Seeing he had Tsuna's full attention, Mukuro explained.

"Oedipus' parents went to an oracle shortly after he was born and were told that he would eventually murder his father and marry his mother. Horrified they had one of their close guards cast the boy away to die alone, where he was found by a sheppard and taken to be raised in a different kingdom as prince. Years later he heard about the prophecy concerning him, and since he didn't know he was adopted he fled the kingdom for fear of it coming true. He came upon a crossroads where he met a traveler and after an argument ended up killing the man. Soon after he came upon a new kingdom suffering under the terror of a Sphinx... anyone who could rid the kingdom of the creature would be named king and marry the queen."

Tsuna could make a general idea of what happened.

"He answered the riddle correctly, killing the Sphinx and ended up marrying the queen," said Tsuna.

Mukuro nodded.

"They had three daughters together and for a time everything was fine. Then a plague hit and the oracle told them to find out what happened to the king if they wanted it to end."

Tsuna grimaced.

"The man Oedipus killed was the king, and the queen was actually his mother, thus fulfilling the very prophecy they tried to avert," he guessed.

"The queen killed herself, Oedipus cut out his own eyes for being so blind, and it all could have been avoided if the idiots had bothered to raise their son instead of listening to the oracle in the first place," said Mukuro. "And don't get me started on some of the other Greek myths."

Seeing the look of curiosity in Tsuna's eyes, Mukuro grimaced.

"Arachne was turned into a spider because she had the balls to weave Zeus' exploits with women other than his wife. Athena was so enraged by the fact that the woman dared to point out her father's faults that she cursed the woman into a spider," said Mukuro. "And don't get me started on Hades. That man tricked his own niece into becoming his wife, and only lets her out once a year because her mother threw a complete bitch fit about it."

Tsuna's eyes were wide...and he mentally made a note to read Greek mythology. Then he scrunched his nose in confusion over something.

"Why did you mention the Romans though?"

"Because technically the Greeks share the same pantheon with the Romans, just under different names. For example Zeus is known as Jupiter, and Poseidon is called Neptune," said Reborn, amused. He noticed the interest Tsuna was showing and was already drawing up a list of books the boy could read later.

It was about time Tsuna was growing interested in studying something. Fon had been correct when he suggested 'small steps' as opposed to forcing the boy to learn something he already considered boring.

Reborn was old, but he wasn't so old that he couldn't admit when his methods needed adjustment.

* * *

Mukuro was not happy, and it was evident someone was going to have a very short lived bad day when he was through.

"What. Happened."

Lying on the hospital wing bed was Ken, and he looked very pale.

"Mr. Rokudo, I highly doubt that you should be here!" said the nurse.

"He is my bonded vassal. I have every right to be here, seeing as how he is under my protection. I will not ask again, what happened to him?" hissed Mukuro in absolute fury.

Seeing a pale McGonagall, he instinctively knew she was behind the reason why Ken looked like death warmed over. He ignored Dumbledore entirely, as the old man was _not_ his concern.

"I caught him playing around with the animagus transformation, and I used the spell to revert it since he had gotten it wrong. The next thing I knew he was screaming in agony and I had to stun him twice before he stopped," said McGonagall quitely.

"You god-damn fool! Ken isn't a normal animagus! He can't achieve a full transformation yet! He uses specialized enchanted teeth to achieve something similar to a partial transformation that is perfectly stable _and you nearly killed him!_ " said Mukuro in absolute fury.

They had tested what would happen if Ken was hit with the standard spell to reverse the animagus transformation, and found out that because of what he went through in the labs, his magic was entirely too unstable to ever achieve a 'proper' animagus form. If anything he would be able to do limited shape-shifting, but his core had been heavily altered by the experiments. As a result, he had to rely on his 'animal paths' to even use that particular magic safely.

Hitting him with the reversal spell, they had found, was almost the equivalent of using a full powered Crucio.

"How many times did you hit him with that spell?" demanded Mukuro.

"Three times," said McGonagall.

Mukuro swore rather viciously, in more than one language.

The old cat was torn, because she recognized some of the words as particularly foul. However she also recognized she had done something wrong, though she had no idea what.

"Ken's magic,"stressed Mukuro, eyes glinting viciously and with a great deal of murder behind them, "Is very unstable when it comes to self-transfiguration. What you just did to him was no different than putting him under the cruciatus at full power. And before you claim I am exagerrating we had fully trained medi-wizards examine the magic in question before we even came here and they did extensive tests on the matter considering how unusual his ability is. The teeth he uses are so he can channel the magic safely."

McGonagall looked absolutely horrified hearing that. Dumbledore looked grave and gazed at Ken's prone body with sorrow.

Sensing Ken stirring, Mukuro was at his side in an instant.

"Mukuro-sama?" he said, pained.

"I'm right here. I won't let them hurt the pack again, especially since it's clear _none_ of the teachers bothered to read the full dosier they were given about our medical files," said Mukuro, glaring at Pomphrey.

Ken whined and latched onto Mukuro, who gave the teachers the darkest look he could and made it clear that if any of them attempted to come near the boy he wouldn't hesitate to murder them all in their sleep.

Fon came in, carrying a potion.

"I heard what happened," he said by way of explanation. Ken didn't hesitate to down the potion when offered, and was out like a light within seconds.

"What was that?" asked Pomphrey. She didn't like her patients drinking potions she didn't recognize.

Fon gave her a thin smile, but it was clear he was furious with them all.

"Mukuro mentioned Ken's condition, correct? When we did the exams we also made note of which potions worked best and which ones would react negatively. What I gave him was something to heal the damage and relieve the pain. It also contains a sedative so that he would sleep through the healing process rather than get into trouble again. May I ask which one of you was foolish enough to use the animagus reversal spell on him?"

Seeing the flinch the transfiguration teacher gave, Fon's gaze was clearly disapproving.

"I am disappointed in you, madam. As Deputy Headmistress I know for a fact you _should_ have read the warnings we made in their files that were sent. Ken's file explicitedly stated that particular spell should _never_ be used on him, especially when he's using one of his special enchanted teeth. Unless you failed to do your job and simply skimmed over the medical warnings?" said Fon with a sharp tone.

"Is this really necessary?" said Dumbledore. He didn't like the fact Fon was dressing one of his most loyal minions down, as if she were an errant first year.

Fon's gaze turned to him and Dumbledore flinched.

"Allow me to clarify something for you, _Albus Dumbledore_ ," said Fon with a perfectly 'friendly' voice which was anything but. "While you fools seem to take for granted the safety and health of your charges, _we_ have not. I am astounded you continue to pretend obliviousness to the health problems this school has, to say nothing of the horrifying level of disciplinary and behavioral issues of the student body. If this is the level of care the teachers give to the students, then it's no wonder you've had such trouble with that hack Dark Lord Voldemort."

Mukuro was rather enjoying the dressing down that the Storm Arcobaleno was giving them. It was long overdue and would serve as the only notice to his hostile takeover.

Ken would bounce back properly when Reborn had Chikusa brought over via Skull's airship, where he proceeded to cuddle with his best friend while Mukuro ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't even notice or care that Chrome was there too, having long since dismissed her as Mukuro's mate.


End file.
